


let's show the world that science's on our side

by sheg0



Series: they say a bad girl [2]
Category: Victorious
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-30
Updated: 2014-09-24
Packaged: 2018-02-15 11:26:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2227299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheg0/pseuds/sheg0
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their relationship is the best and the strangest thing that's ever happened to Tori. You can't really blame her if she's still trying to figure it out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here is the first chapter of the sequel to "they say a bad girl". I strongly encourage you to read that fic first because there are a lot of mentions of the 'how they got together' thing. It's gonna be a slightly longer ride than the prequel, but you'll be glad to know the story is already finished, so I'll be posting the chapters in the next couple of weeks. 
> 
> Enjoy and please, let me know what you think!
> 
> Disclaimer: Victorious is the property of Nickelodeon, and is not my intellectual property. This is for entertainment purposes only.

1.

 

Tori's not very good at science but she finds it interesting. That's why she took that lab class at her old school. Once she transferred to Hollywood Arts, she forgot almost everything she learned in that class. But some things stayed with her.

Like the Laws of Attraction, for some reason. All that stuff about two bodies with opposite charges attracting each other. She remembers it happens because the system wants to be in equilibrium and the only way to find it it’s if positive and negative charges meet. And then, there’s some sort of clash, a flow of charges until there’s equilibrium and one of the strongest bonds in nature is created.

Or something like that.

"Do you believe that opposites really attract?" She asks Andre as she leans next to his locker.

"What, like with magnets and chiz?"

Tori shrugs, not even sure what she's asking.

"Well, yeah. I mean, that's just science, right? Like, it's a law. Not up for debate," he reasons.

"No, but I mean for people. Do you believe it works for people?"

Andre shuts his locker with a thoughtful frown, his music sheets clutched tightly in his hand. "I think for some people, yeah. I guess it depends on the situation; some people are attracted to those similar to them, others aren't." He shrugs and smiles lopsidedly, "I like girls who have stuff in common with me."

Tori sighs distractedly, her eyes scanning the hallway that is crowded with students arriving for their first class.

"But do you think..." A dark figure coming through the front door catches her attention and every other face in the hall fades away to the background. "Do you think two completely different people, who barely ever see eye to eye, who clash together like some kind of explosive reaction and against all the odds... Do you think it can work?"

Jade snaps her bright blue eyes to Tori like she could feel her stare and her step falters. The hand on the strap of her backpack tightens and the corner of her pink lips quirks up on one side in that half smirk that Tori's so accustomed to. Tori lifts her hand dumbly, gives her a small wave and Jade stares at her for a couple more seconds, before her smirk grows into a smile and she looks away. Tori's stomach flutters and she drops her hand to her side, disarmed. It’s been a month and a half since they started dating – not counting the week they fake-dated and Tori refuses to count that – but Jade still affects her like the first day.

Andre is looking at her funny and she tries to rein in her grin.

"I don't know," he says continuing their previous conversation, amusement clearly showing. "You tell me."

 

 

Robbie’s argument with Rex is cut off when Jade arrives at the table, slapping a printed paper on the surface and making everyone jump one foot in the air. She looks around at her friends and taps on the paper. 

“We need to get in,” she states seriously. She then turns to Andre who’s sitting next to Tori and raises her eyebrows at him.

“Wha- oh, right.” He scoots over a seat and she plops onto the space next to her girlfriend, her hand previously occupied by the paper going to Tori’s thigh under the table to squeeze gently just over her knee. Tori smiles at her burrito.

“Into what?” Beck picks the paper that Jade brought.

“NOVAFest LA,” Cat reads over his shoulder, “the short film festival for young, aspiring filmmakers.”

“Ages to enter the competition, 16 to 25…” Becks skims it over, “Short films must be original, competitors non-professionals… yadda, yadda; Jade, what is this?”

“That,” she says after taking a sip of her water, “is our ticket into the world of Hollywood.” Everyone around the table waits for her to elaborate. “You guys know Benny Martinez?”

“The director?” Andre asks.

“Uhm, yeah? Who wouldn’t know him?” Robbie says like it’s obvious. Everyone around the table nods in agreement. He snorts a laugh, “Because his last movie ‘ _Asteroid_ ’, the compelling love story of an astronaut woman and an alien that travels in an asteroid, _didn’t_ win 3 Oscars last year, right? That didn’t happen, so we don’t know who he is.” He laughs smugly. “Right?”

“ _Right_ ,” Jade says tersely and pointedly. Robbie’s smirk falls and he goes back to his food. She shakes her head at Robbie’s obnoxiousness and continues talking. “And you know Frankie Beaumont?”

“The actress from that movie we watched last weekend?” Tori asks, trying to recall the name. “’A hundred sunny days’?”

“ _’A hundred days under the sun’_!” Cat yells happily, hitting the table like she’s in a quiz show. “Oh I loved that movie! And the ending! So romantic…”

Tori leans into Jade, “Didn’t she die at the end?” she whispers. Jade just shakes her head, just as confused.

“Yeah, well, guess what Festival they both won before they became famous? On… different categories, obviously.”

“Oh, oh!” Cat slams the table again, squirming in her seat, “I know that one too! It’s this one!” She snatches the paper from Beck’s hands and waves it around.

“Well done, lil’ red,” Andre cheers gently as he plucks the paper from her hands. Cat beams at him. “So, you sayin’ we make a short film, present it to the judges and _if_ we win, then _maybe_ , we could have a foot into the Hollywood scene. And that’s _if_ we get selected.”

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”

“I don’t know, Jade…” Andre shrugs a shoulder unconvinced. It sounds like a lot of ‘maybes’. “We have so much stuff goin’ on, I have to write three new songs this semester.”

Jade goes to protest, but Beck cuts her off. “Yeah, and my neighbors are paying me to repair their car, which, let me tell you, it’s not easy when the car should be in a museum, not a garage.”

“I’m taking Tai Chi lessons,” Cat announces. When everyone looks at her questioningly, she just shrugs. “Sickowitz told me to.” Jade scoffs.

“I…” Robbie starts.

“He doesn’t want to,” Rex finishes for him.

“No! That’s not it! I have things too! Jade, seriously, I have like-”

“Don’t wanna know,” she cuts him off, hand in the air. “Don’t care.”

“I’m up for it,” Tori says, shrugging. She thinks about the things she has to do this semester. Sure she’s busy, songs to perform, auditions for Sickowitz’s plays, Trina’s birthweek. But she can make time, not only because it’s something Jade wants, but because she knows Jade’s right, the people who’ve won this festival are _someone_  now.

Jade smiles crookedly at her and her hand slips back onto Tori's thigh. “Thank you, Tori,” she says pointedly, so everyone hears. With gentle fingers, she grabs her chin and plants a sweet kiss on her lips. She takes two seconds to smile against her mouth, lips hovering, before she pulls back and up from the table. “Seems like the thousand dollars reward will be all for us, babe,” she says loudly as she turns to leave.

“Wait, what?!” Andre exclaims.

“One-“ Robbie gasps.

“Wait, Jade!” Beck calls at her as she walks away, slowly, hips sashaying. Tori watches entranced, amused smile hidden behind her hand.

“Thousand-“

“Jade, don’t be like that!” Andre calls, going as far as standing on the bench of the table. “Come on, we were kiddin’!”

“Dollars.”

“Still with us, buddy?” Rex asks sarcastically as Robbie starts hyperventilating, thinking about all he could do with that much money.

“Aw, she called you babe,” Cat fawns over them, hands under her chin and hearts in her eyes.

Tori shakes her head. This ridiculous bunch are her friends.

 

 

Tori’s been staring for the better part of an hour. She and Jade are studying in Jade’s room – well, Tori’s studying, and Jade is writing and rewriting the script for the short film they all finally agreed to work on. It didn’t take much more convincing after Jade dropped the money bomb. It _did_ take a lot of begging from their friend’s part for Jade to accept them back into the team though. Tori knows there was some bribing involved but she hasn’t figured out with what yet. She’s not sure she wants to know.

So after their last class of the day, they did a quick meeting and everyone agreed that Jade would be the one to write the script– as if there was any doubt, Tori had thought– and the rest of the jobs would be distributed as the project evolved. After the meeting, Jade had asked Tori to come over. So Tori had quickly sent a text to Trina telling her to not wait for her, and brought her homework with her to the West residence.

And that’s how, an hour later, she finds herself lounging on Jade’s bed, head on her hand and staring at her girlfriend’s profile who’s sitting on the armchair where she does her Slap videos, typing on her laptop. Inevitably, her mind wanders back to her science class, to negative and positive charges, to magnets and attraction laws. How can they be so different and still connect so well? Jade’s night when she’s day, cold where she’s warm. Still Tori doesn’t think she’s ever been in a relationship where she felt so… completed. She also has never enjoyed staring at someone so much. Jade West is interesting, even when she’s doing practically nothing.

“Vega, if you don’t stop staring, I swear to God.”

Tori’s cheeks redden slightly but she doesn’t look away. Instead, she smiles, bites her lip to stop her grin from spreading. “You’ll what, West?”

Jade glances at her out of the corner of her eye, not even turning her head, then looks back to her laptop. Tori sighs dramatically, turning on her back with her feet on Jade’s pillow, and stretches back like a cat. Her t-shirt, a thin gray cotton one with a smiling ice-cream cone on the front, rides up on her stomach. “What will you do if I keep staring, uh?” Tori asks, “ignore me to death?”

She hears a scoff, but otherwise Jade doesn’t respond.

“Maybe I’ll die of boredom. Or hunger. Just staring at you,” Tori continues, eyes following the patterns on Jade’s wall. “You have a nice face to look at, it’s only natural,” she says matter-of-factly. “I wonder how many brave warriors died from one look at you… That’s medusa, right?”

“Argh, fine,” Jade groans. Tori tilts her head backwards to look at her. Jade puts the laptop on the table and makes her way to the bed. “I’ll pay attention to you. God, you’re so needy.”

Tori feels the dip on the bed and then Jade’s face is hovering over hers, but upside-down. She’s leaning on the bed, one hand on either side of Tori’s head. Tori smiles goofily, lifts her hand to brush it over Jade’s cheekbone, then the bridge of her nose. What a nice face indeed. Her hand sneaks behind Jade’s neck and she pulls her down to kiss her, which is weird because they’re still upside-down and she never thought she’d kiss anyone Spiderman style. Only, horizontal. Whatever.

“Mhh,” Jade hums against her lips. She tries to pull back but Tori holds onto her. Jade chuckles into her mouth.

“Whut?” Tori asks, still refusing to let her go. Jade grabs her hands from her neck and pulls at them gently.

“Nothing, weirdo. This is just a very uncomfortable position for me.”

“Well, come here then.” Tori pats the space on the bed next to her, the one that’s not cluttered with her notebooks, pens and books. Jade complies, climbing into her bed and lying next to Tori. The brunette doesn’t waste a second to bring her mouth back to Jade’s. She feels a hand slipping under the back of her t-shirt, Jade’s cool hand caressing her back, up and down, again and again. Jade knows how much she loves that, that Tori will be purring in her arms in a minute. And Tori hums against her lips, pecks her a couple times and then buries her face into her neck, body impossibly close to Jade’s.

“I like when you do that,” Tori sighs, dropping her chin to kiss Jade’s collarbone.

“I know,” Jade answers quietly. She thinks Tori’s like a kitten sometimes. All she needs is attention, affection, food and sleep. Jade doesn’t even like cats, but this one… this one she’ll keep.

They wake up an hour later, still in the same position. Jade pulls her hand out of Tori’s shirt, rousing her from her delicious nap.

“You hungry?” Jade asks.

Tori stretches, taps her index finger on her bottom lip. “I could eat.”

Jade shakes her head. See? Kitten.

 

 

Ms. West is just leaving when they get downstairs. Tori’s seen her a handful of times since she started dating Jade – actually dating Jade, that is. Valerie’s fishing her car keys from her purse, phone pressed to her hear on her shoulder. She catches a glimpse of her daughter and Tori, waving at the latter with a bright smile for a second before barking an incredulous “What?” into her phone.

Minutes later, as Tori seats on the kitchen counter and watches Jade make them sandwiches, her mom peeks her head into the kitchen. “Jade, I’m leaving, I won’t be back until late. Tori, honey, it's so good to see you.”

“Yeah, you too, Ms. West,” Tori says good-naturedly.

“Can you please, remember to call your father? He’s been spamming my e-mail with messages about you.”

“Yeah, fine,” Jade mutters.

“Oh hey, one of this day I’ll clear my evening and maybe Tori can come for dinner?” Valerie looks up at her for confirmation. Tori nods, eyes wide.

“Yeah, totally. I’m up for that.”

Ms. West smiles, “wonderful.” Her phone starts ringing again, and Tori swears she sees Jade’s eyes roll. “I’ve to go. Have fun girls. But, not too much? Whatever that means? Anyway, bye. Love you, Jade. Bye, Tori.” And she’s out of the house before either of them can respond.

“Your mom’s cool,” Tori says after a few minutes of silence.

Jade hums non-committal. “Can you get the mayo?”

Tori jumps down from the counter and pulls the fridge door open. “I mean, I guess it sucks you don’t see her much but… she tries.” She gets no answer. When she closes the fridge, she notices the pictures tapped all over it. There’s a young boy, around twelve maybe. Tori recognizes his face from the pictures Valerie showed her months ago. “Is this your brother…?”

“Elliot,” Jade finishes. She squirts some mayo on their sandwiches. “Yeah, that’s him.”

“Is he still at the boarding school?”

“Yep.”

Tori stares at his clear blue eyes, tries to spot a difference between his and Jade’s. “Do you miss him?”

Jade grunts a laugh. “The little snot? No.”

“When is he coming back?”

“I don’t know.” Jade passes Tori her sandwich and leans back on the kitchen table. “Next holiday, I guess. But he’ll probably stay with my Dad.”

Tori gives the picture one last glance. “He looks like a sweet kid.”

Jade picks at her sandwich and shrugs a shoulder. “He’s okay. I guess I don’t mind it that much when he stays with Mom and I. I can pull pranks on him, which is always hilarious.”

Tori knows Jade well enough to read between the lines. It seems to bother her that her brother chooses their Dad over them. But before she can dig deeper, Jade moves towards the door. “Come on, let’s eat this in the living room.”

They turn on the TV, old episodes of Spongebob Squarepants. Tori finishes her sandwich first. She curls up on the couch, faces Jade, and watches how she munches on her sandwich, gaze fixated on the TV.

“Okay, what is up with you today?” Jade asks, studded eyebrow cocked in question. “You’ve been staring at me all day. And I know I’m very hot and you’re like, obsessed with me but it’s getting kinda creepy.”

“Shut up, I’m not obsessed with you,” Tori replies lamely.

“A strong argument, accompanied by hours of hungry staring and heavy breathing.”

Tori laughs, “oh my God, I don’t breath heavily. You just made that up.”

“Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night, Vega,” Jade snarks. She finishes her sandwich, balls up her napkin and mirrors Tori’s position. Her eyebrows raise impatiently, “so?”

Tori moves her hand closer to Jade’s knee, letting the tips of her fingers feel her warmth through the dark and torn jeans. “I’ve been thinking about… physics.”

Jade frowns. “Like, the science?”

A nod.

“Why?” Jade asks, completely befuddled.

Tori shrugs.

“Okay, first: you’re weird. Second: I’m worried I’ve been dating a nerd all along and I’m just realizing it now. But, okay, continue.”

Tori’s stomach does a backflip, like it does every time Jade talks about their relationship status. After the very strange and complicated way they got together, it feels good to have confirmation.

“It’s dumb, I don’t know why I even thought about it in the first place.” Tori flushes slightly. “But… you know how we’re like, total opposites?”

She looks up into Jade’s eyes, so blue at times, and some green others. Right now they look gray. “Everyone and their mother knows that, Tori.”

“Right. But don’t you find it, I don’t know, _curious_ at least, the way we… well, we,” she licks her lips, trying to find the way to say this without sounding totally lame, “we work. I mean, since day one, even if you hated me at first, there was always this pull. Like magnets.”

Jade’s still frowning, but she nods for her to continue.

“We are nothing alike. But there’s that… attraction. So- so-“ Tori makes a motion with her hands, “intense. You- you feel it too, right?” She suddenly feels insecure, scared that Jade has no idea what she’s talking about.

Jade rolls her eyes, hooks her hand behind Tori’s knee and pulls her closer. “What do you think?” She asks in a deadpan.

Tori smiles and continues explaining.

“So, physics. Magnets, charges, attraction and chiz.” She plucks one of Jade’s purple streaks – color that she chose herself – and twirls it around her finger. “Opposites attract, I’ve heard that like a billion times.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“So, do you think it’s true? Because, Jade, let me tell you, on paper?” Tori wiggles a finger between the two of them. “We are doomed.”

Jade rolls her eyes again, grabs Tori’s wiggling finger. “We’re not equations, Tori.”

“Yeah, but-“

“I don’t know,” Jade cuts her off. “I don’t know if this relationship is doomed or not, if we’ll crash and burn or whatever. What I _know_ , is that I’m not gonna stop doing something I like just because you decide to go all Bill Nye on me.”

“So… you like… doing… me?” Tori rephrases Jade’s sentence, a mischievous glint in her eye. She’s joking, of course, seeing as they haven’t gone there just yet. Not since that thing that happened in Jade’s room a month ago, the thing that hangs unspoken between them.

Jade guffaws, throwing her head back in laughter. When her eyes focus back on Tori’s, she sees the gray go from calm to storm. Jade pushes her back into the couch, body slipping in between Tori’s legs. She leans in, husks into Tori’s ear: “I like… doing this.” And then kisses her.


	2. Chapter 2

2. 

 

The murmurs of the class usually never cease when Sikowitz enters, but today, he’s got a wicked smile on his face that immediately turns a couple of heads. There’s also the way he starts preparing a table and two seats on the small stage, like he actually has something planned for today’s lesson. It’s surprising to say the least. 

And then he puts a box on top of the table and flexes his fingers like an evil mastermind and silence falls around the room.

“Andre,” he calls, nervous excitement in his voice. “Come here boy, sit.”

“Oh-kay…” Andre replies as he approaches his teacher doubtfully.

Sikowitz picks a strange instrument from the box and holds it up to the light. It looks like a pair of headphones with a microphone, but they have been designed to look more like a helmet from outer space.

“Creepy,” Cat whispers loudly.

The teacher puts the helmet on Andre’s head, or tries to at first, as the boy ducks out of his way, eyes wide and questioning. Sikowitz only shushes him, like one would a murder victim just before slicing their throat. He then calls Tori, who’s been watching the whole scene with curiosity, like the rest of the class. Tori joins them on the stage and Sikowitz pushes her on the seat in front of Andre.

“Andre, you are going to tell Tori what you’ve done today. From the moment you woke up, ‘till now.” He turns to Tori. “Toro, you _must not laugh,_ ” he says pointedly.

“Why would I-“ Tori tries to ask. The helmet on Andre’s head looks quite ridiculous, but it’s not enough to make her laugh out loud.

“Ah, ah. You guys understood what you have to do, yes?” They both nod. “Good.” Sikowitz turns to Andre, presses a button right over his ear and says: “and action.” 

Andre looks at Tori and shrugs. “Well, this morning-ning I-I woke up- oke up…” he frowns, shakes his head. “I had- ad breakfa- eakfast- fast with my grand- and- andma, what- at the hell- hell?!” 

Everyone in class is looking at Andre with amused smiles, murmuring and chuckling at his efforts to recount his morning.

“The Idiotizer!” Sikowitz announces excitedly, hands clapping and pointing at Andre’s helmet. “Become an idiot in one single step!”

“Why do I- do I have to be- o be the idi-diot?” Andre asks, or tries to.

“Hey, don’t break character,” Sikowitz warns, then turns to the class. “The Idiotizer repeats your words in your ears half a second after you’ve said them, confusing your brain into thinking you must catch up.”

“Uhm, what does this have to do with acting?” Jade asks, arm raised.

“Ah, dear Jade, that’s a great question!” He approaches Tori, who so far, has been able to rein her laughter in, but is growing more and more confused by the whole thing. He puts his hands on her shoulders. “In your life as actors, you’ll have to do scenes with a lot of idiots. You might feel the desire to punch them, the imperious need to burst out laughing at their utter stupidity, but your job asks of you to be professional at all times. Never mind how much of a moron your acting partner is.”

“No-ow, that’s –at’s just me-ean,” Andre complains.

“Okay, let’s take it up a notch!” Sikowitz takes out two scripts from his bag. “The dying scene from the classic novel “ _Fathers and Daughters_ ”. Impossibly sad.” He passes each of them a script. “Tuberculosis is about to take your father, Tori. Try not to laugh. And action!”

 

 

“Okay, anyone else thinks Sikowitz’s classes just keep getting weirder with each passing year?” Andre asks as they walk to their lockers. He’s still a bit pissed about being the first idiotized, even if a few others went through the process, and he admitted it was quite funny from the outside.

“Yeah, no question there,” Jade agrees, leaning next to Tori’s locker so the girl can put her notebook away. “A helmet that repeats your own voice– like, what kind of weirdo would own one of those, much less enjoy it?”

Just as Jade finishes the question, Sinjin walks past them, Idiotizer firmly on his head. He seems to be talking, listening to himself and giggling uncontrollably. They watch him until he turns the corner and disappears.

“ _Well_!” Tori exclaims, in that way she does when she’s left speechless.

“Anyway…” Andre changes topics, “Jade, have you finished that script yet?”

“Last night, yeah. It’s a rough draft, but I wanna show Gradstein, see if he can give me some pointers.” Tori slams her locker and they start walking towards the Asphalt Cafe. Jade reaches out, intertwines her fingers through Tori’s. “It’s a wonder how I finished it at all, what with _someone_ being needy and distracting all afternoon.”

Tori snorts. “Yeah, because you were complaining so much about the distractions." 

“Yes, please, tell me everything about these distractions,” Andre says interestedly.

Tori squints her eyes at him, “perv.”

They take a seat at their table, Cat, Robbie and Beck joining them not long after. Jade buys some french fries and when Tori goes to steal one, Jade tries to bite her finger. Tori’s eyes widen, finger clutched protectively against her chest. Jade smirks amused and pushes the plate of fries towards her girlfriend. Tori grins and gives her half of her turkey sandwich.

“Okay, wow, Tori,” Robbie says. Next to her, Jade tenses. When Tori looks up she sees why. Robbie is pulling at Jade’s shirt collar, exposing the place Jade’s neck meet her shoulder and the huge hickey that Tori gave her yesterday on the couch. “Are you like a vampire or something?”

“Three… two…” Jade counts, voice cold and terrifying. Robbie immediately pulls his hand away and the dark green shirt falls back into place, hiding the hickey for the most part. Jade goes back to eating without another word. Tori feels her friend’s eyes on her, teasing and curious. 

“Uh… it’s not…” Tori thinks about denying it but she knows it’s no use. Also, a small part of her enjoys the fact that they all know she’s the culprit, that her friends and whoever dares to look at Jade for more than a couple seconds will know that Jade West lets her mark her and shows it proudly. Still, she can’t help but feel the blood rush up to her face, her skin hot at the back of her neck.

 “I’m surprised you even know what a hickey is,” Jade snarks, saving her from the embarrassment. “Because as far as I know, puppets can’t suck.”

Robbie gasps loudly, and Tori chokes around a sip of her water. The rest of the table snickers as Robbie’s face grows pink, then red, then almost purple.

 “Rob, she’s insinuating what I think she’s insinuating!” Rex cries offended. “You gonna let her?”

 “We’re not- I don’t-“ Robbie stands up, flustered and embarrassed. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, our relationship is _not_ of that nature!”

 “Well,” Jade drawls and Tori just knows she’s gonna deliver the blow that will leave him K.O., “parts of you _do spend_ a lot of time up his ass.”

 And that’s when their resolve breaks and Andre, Beck, Tori and even Cat start laughing uncontrollably.

 “I like girls!” Robbie’s yell is high-pitched, not really helping his case. He stomps his foot and turns to leave, crying back: “Human girls!” 

“Aw, come on Rob, she was just kiddin’!” Andre calls at his retreating back, his laughter reduced to giggles. 

“Yeah, Rob,” Jade says disinterested, “I obviously don’t think you do filthy things with your puppet.” 

Tori pinches her thigh, “don’t be mean.”

“Psht,” Jade waves it off, “he’s fine. Plus, he shouldn’t have put you on the spot.” 

The hand pinching Jade’s leg splays out over her thigh and rubs it gratefully. “My knight in… dark, prickly armor.” She leans in and plants a wet smooch on Jade’s cheek.

“Ew, Vega. Drool,” Jade complains, putting on a show of wiping her cheek off.

“I’m gonna go make sure Robbie’s okay,” Beck says, taking his trash with him.

“Tell him I said his secret kink is safe with us!” Jade calls out.

“I will do no such thing!” Beck singsongs back.

 

 

“Jesus, what _is_ that?” Jade asks from her spot on the floor, back against Tori’s bed. It’s the weekend and Tori’s on the bed, painting her toenails while Jade is once again working on the script. This time, she’s reading over Mr. Gradstein notes on the printed version of it. The thing Jade is referring to is the sound of moans and screeches they’ve been hearing on and off for the last ten minutes. The noise is not clear, muffled by the walls of Tori’s room, but Jade could swear it’s some sort of dying animal.

“Oh, that’s Trina,” Tori replies unperturbed. “She’s been practicing her ‘Shakira voice’ all week. I’ve tried to tell her that it’s obviously not working, but she refuses to listen.”

“How can you stand it?” Jade cranes her neck back, looking at Tori perplexed.

“I can’t,” Tori says in a ‘duh’ tone. “Why do you think I spend so much time at your place?”

“Mh,” Jade hums, turning back to her papers, “and here I was thinking it was because of my charming personality.”

Tori snorts a laugh and the moaning starts again.

“Oh my God,” Jade groans irritated, head dropping back into the bed. “Give up, Trina!” She yells angrily.

They hear a squeak, then a door opening and closing. Seconds later, Tori’s door is pushed open forcefully.

“Trina!” Tori exclaims, “don’t you knock?!”

“Yeah, like I don’t know what you two pervs do in here when Mom’s not home,” Trina sneers. Holly has applied the doors-open policy for Jade like she’s done with all of her daughters’ boyfriends before. But when the parentals are not home – like at the moment – Tori’s quick to shut the door, even if only to feel she’s alone with Jade in their little bubble for a while. It’s not like she would dare to do anything with Trina two rooms down from hers.

“So, what? You wanted a free show?” Jade sneers back.

“Ew!” Trina pulls a face. “Tori, tell your girlfriend not to be disgusting, thank you.”

“What do you want, Trina?” Tori asks exasperated.

“Just letting you know that I will _not_ be giving up anytime soon. I almost have Shaki’s vibrato down and I mean, after that, it’s just a bit of,” Trina starts swaying her hips from side to side, but it looks more like she’s broken at the waist and having a seizure. Jade purses her lips in disgust. “You know, pelvic action- and I’m gonna get myself a professional soccer playing boyfriend.”

“Completely delusional,” Jade states.

“Say what you want but the facts remain,” Trina turns to leave, shakes her ass a little. “Hips don’t lie!”

The door shuts behind her and Jade shudders, shoulders and head shaking around, like she’s trying to erase the last 5 minutes of her life from her brain.

“Well,” Tori sighs, “that wasn’t disturbing.”

And the moaning is back. Full force.

“Okay, we’re out of here.” Jade stands up from the floor and holds a hand out for Tori.

“Where are we going?” Tori asks, carefully putting on her flip-flops to not mess up her wet nails.

“ _Yo soy loca con mi tigre!_ ” Trina screeches, accent pretty terrible for a half-Latina. “ _Loca, loca, loca!_ ”

“Anywhere but here,” Jade says through clenched teeth. A minute more in this house and she’ll go all _loca_ on Trina. And that won’t be pretty.

 

 

“So what _is_ the script about?” Tori sucks the last of her Blueberry Storm smoothie noisily through her straw. They’re strolling through shopping streets, hand in hand, Tori with her fruity beverage and Jade with a coffee. “I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to be spoiled, but now I’m curious.” 

“You’ll see when it’s finished,” Jade answers mysteriously.

“Aw, come on,” Tori whines, a spring in her step, shoulder bumping with Jade’s. “Just a hint.”

“Whine all you want, I’m not gonna tell you.”

Tori pouts. “Fine.”

Jade rolls her eyes. “It’s almost done and I want to show you all together on Monday.”

“Oh, cool,” Tori perks up. They turn a corner to enter a narrow pedestrian street and Tori throws the empty cup of her smoothie in the trash. “I can’t wait.”

There’s a small stand on one side of the street, a girl sitting behind it and another guy standing around, talking to people. But what calls Tori’s attention is the huge Gay Pride flag hanging from one side of the stand. She knows Pride Day is still months away so she’s a little curious. The guy catches her watching, then sees their joined hands and approaches, flashing them a winning smile.

“Hey girls,” he says, tone amicable. “We’re doing a campaign to raise awareness for the more marginalized groups of the LGBTQA community, do you have a minute to hear about it?” He sees Jade’s frown and adds. “It won’t take long, and we’re not asking for money if you don’t want to give it.”

It’s Tori who answers, “sure.”

The guy, Eric, explains what their group is all about and what their campaign is trying to accomplish. It’s actually very eye opening for Tori to hear about how even inside the community there’re things like erasure and privilege and the like. True to his promise, Eric keeps the speech short and sweet. He gives them a couple pamphlets and asks them to check their webpage and spread the word. Just as they’re about to leave, he calls them back.

“Oh, hey,” he gestures at Tori – who’s been the more talkative one – takes her hand and snaps an elastic bracelet on her wrist. “We don’t have a lot of these, but-“ he smiles cheekily at them, “I like you. You two are adorable.”

Tori touches the bracelet with a small smile. It has the colors of the Pride flag and the name of the organization in small bold font. “Thank you,” she says genuinely. She grabs Jade’s hand again and waves Eric goodbye.

“That was interesting, wasn’t it?” Tori asks, admiring the colorful bracelet against her tan skin.

“Mh,” Jade concedes. “He was too sunny for my taste.”

Tori rolls her eyes. She knows that’s Jade’s way of saying: _yeah, it was interesting, but I hate giving anyone and anything a compliment._

 

 

They’re back at the Vega residence, picking up plates and glasses after a delicious meal by the hand of Mrs. Vega. It took a bit of pleading and puppy-dog eyes to convince Jade to stay for dinner, but after reasoning that it made no sense for her to go home to an empty house and have dinner on her own, Jade had no argument. Tori can count with one hand the times her girlfriend’s sat to eat with her parents and Trina, and they’ve been dating for almost two months now. Jade claims it’s because she can’t stand the way Trina chews – and Tori has no doubt that’s a factor – but she suspects the truth is that she’s a bit embarrassed. She didn’t do this with Beck; he lives in his RV. Jade West has never had to seat with her significant other’s parents and make small talk. 

Needless to say, Jade’s not good at small talk. She’s not naturally warm or nice or charming; not in a parent-approved kind of way, anyway. But she tries, and Tori appreciates it. Even if her Dad goes cross-eyed when Jade explains some of her more bizarre hobbies and interests. Her parents know her girlfriend is… peculiar; but as long as she’s good to her, they accept her. Eccentricities and all.

“She knows I’m a cop, right?” Her Dad mock-whispers as the two of them prepare to wash the dishes.

“Dad,” Tori warns. She squirts some soap into her sponge and starts scrubbing, giving the plates to Jade to dry.

“I’m just kidding!” David laughs, already leaving the kitchen. “Jeez, can’t your good ol’, badge carrying, gun wielding, detective father crack a joke?”

“Ignore him,” Tori tells Jade.

“It’s fine,” Jade answers through a tight smile. “At least he cares, right?”

Tori stops scrubbing for a moment, glancing at her girlfriend to see if she’ll elaborate. But Jade keeps drying silently, her face serene, so she drops it too.

Her family’s already upstairs when they finish, and the living room is dark, apart from the light coming from a small lamp. Jade looks at her phone; it’s not too late, she can stay a while longer. They sit on the couch, feet on the coffee table, and turn on the TV. There’s a black and white movie playing, something about a thief and a femme fatal. They watch it in silence for a while, Tori’s head on Jade’s shoulder and her arm resting on Jade’s stomach. Her eyes catch on the elastic bracelet.

“Jade?”

“Mh?”

“Am I gay?”

Jade’s head snaps towards her, a frown between her eyes. “What?” She asks dumbfounded.

“I mean,” Tori shrugs, “am I? I’m a girl, dating a girl. Does that mean I’m gay?”

Jade blinks at her, “didn’t you hear a thing the sunny guy said?”

Tori tilts her head, a silent question. Jade sighs.

“Tori, do you like boys?” She asks slowly, enunciating every word.

“I like you,” Tori replies, biting the tip of her tongue cheekily.

“Cute,” Jade deadpans, “but I mean, are you still attracted to guys?”

Tori thinks about it for a moment, then shrugs. “I suppose, yeah.”

“So am I. There you have it.” Jade concludes, her attention going back to the TV.

“You mean, I’m bisexual?” Tori still doesn’t want to drop it.

“Call it what you want, Vega,” Jade sighs. “As long as you don’t go around kissing anyone else you can call yourself whatever you want.”

“Okay, but what if-“

“Oh, my God,” Jade groans exasperated. She really doesn’t want to talk about this right now; Jade doesn’t care what she or Tori or anyone identifies as. Choose your own label or choose none at all, it’s what she thinks. She’s actually interested in the movie and Tori won’t let her watch it. So she does the only thing that she knows will stop Tori’s one-track mind.

Tori doesn’t even have time to finish her thought process before Jade is pushing her tongue into her mouth. She kisses back eagerly, the hand over Jade’s stomach gripping at her shirt and pulling so hard, Jade’s afraid she’ll snap some buttons. Whatever she is, Tori thinks, she’s definitely Jade-sexual. One touch, one look, even just the scent of Jade’s shampoo is enough to make her stomach flip, get her blood pumping like nothing else. Tori’s been turned on by guys before: Ryder made her heart pitter-patter and Daniel’s abs were a recurrent theme in her dreams. But this thing she has with Jade– this thing where she just talks, say words in that sexy drawl, and Tori gets _wet_? This thing is pretty new.

She lays back on the couch with Jade on top, trapping Jade’s bottom lip between her teeth. The action pulls a whimper from the back of Jade’s throat. Tori’s immediately transported to that afternoon, back when they were still fake dating and she had tried to make Jade admit her feelings. Dry humping like a couple of horny teenagers; hurried and uncomfortable with all those clothes between them, but at the time, it did the trick. Now Tori regrets it. Because of that spontaneous act of stupidity, because she had wanted to share something meaningful with Jade when it wasn’t the time or place, now they are too gun-shy to go there again. And it’s been more than a month and Tori’s very ready and very frustrated. But whenever things get steamy, there’s always a reason to stop, and if there isn’t, Jade just starts talking and puts some distance between them to cool things down.

Jade’s kisses are turning wet and open-mouthed and their shaky breathing is the only sound echoing in the silent living room. Maybe it’s the way Jade’s body weights so deliciously on top of hers, or maybe it’s because Tori has a lapse in judgment and forgets where she is, but next thing she knows, her hand is under Jade’s shirt and she’s got a handful of Jade’s breast. Jade’s kisses slow until she’s just breathing into her mouth. She pulls back a fraction and stares at Tori, eyes dark blue and heavy-lidded.

“Whacha doin’ there?”

“Uh…” The sound tumbles out of Tori’s mouth without any purpose. Her brain is still trying to catch up with her body.

“Not that I mind, but you do realize your parents are just upstairs,” Jade clarifies.

“Yeah…” Tori trails off.

“And Trina.”

Her hand comes out of Jade’s shirt immediately. “Sorry, you’re right.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Vega,” Jade scoffs makes herself some room between Tori and the couch.

Tori sighs, long and deep, and tries to calm her body down.

“You okay?” Jade asks, looking a tad concerned.

“Yeah.” Tori gives her a smile to reassure her. And she _is_ okay, it’s not like she was actually expecting to have sex on the couch while her parents are upstairs. Jade was right in stopping them this time.

So they go back to the movie. Or Jade goes back to the movie, cuddled up to Tori, and Tori stares at the screen unseeing and thinks about Jade and about herself, about sexuality and sex, and magnetic charges.


	3. Chapter 3

3.

 

" _So hazy, but it's alright, to take me to the dark side. Dangerous, but I'm fearless."_  Tori's sweet voice filters through the door to the music room as Jade approaches. She takes out her phone and looks at the time, realizing she's a bit early and her girlfriend must still be practicing one of the numerous songs she has to perform this semester.

The lyrics sound familiar, but she can't pinpoint where she's heard them before. She looks through the small window on the door, checks that Tori is not facing her direction and slips inside the room quietly.

" _And I just can't shake you outta my head. Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe."_ There's another girl in the room - Jun Himura, she recognizes her from the Music Tech class she took her freshman year – short and thin, with a pair of orange headphones covering her ears. She's focused on a mixing table, her head bumping to the beat of the song and her tongue sticking out in concentration. Tori's standing in front of her, stomping her cowboy boot rhythmically on the floor while she sings into her microphone. " _I'm a little bit love drunk. Ever get the feeling where you're miles away. Everybody's looking at me walking, stumbling, hardly talking, mumbling."_

They look at each other and Jun gives Tori a thumbs up and a toothy smile. Tori flips her hair, swings her hips around. " _Promise I've been drinkin' only lemonade, it's all I take. My heart's just on one about someone…"_

She twirls, noticing Jade for the first time. Her eyes widen, just like her smile as she sings: " _'Cause I'm a little bit love drunk."_

Jade steps further into the room and takes a seat. Jun nods at her, giving her a quick smile before going back to the buttons and faders. Jade leans back and watches Tori perform the rest of the song. Under Jade's attentive stare, the singer turns it up a notch; flips her hair just so, exposes her neck, sways her hips just for Jade's viewing pleasure.

When the song finishes, Tori's breathing heavily and her neck glistens with sweat. Jade claps slowly and Tori curtsies. The DJ takes her headphones off and says excitedly: "hell yeah, dude! That was awesome!"

Tori gives her a high-five. "It was pretty cool, wasn't it? We chose a great song."

"Oh man, I'm just so glad I'm working with you and not that kid with the doll." The girl pulls a face while she starts packing her stuff. "No offense and all, but he's a terrible singer."

"That, he is," Tori agrees. She steps into Jade's space and leans down, hands on the armrests of Jade's chair. Her breathing is still a bit heavy when she asks: "What did you think?"

Jade shrugs a shoulder, "eh. I've seen better."

Tori scans her face and Jade's lip twitches. She grins and says "liar," then leans down to press her mouth to those lying lips.

"You were totally off-key," Jade continues, breaking the kiss. "And the performance was pretty damn boring if you ask me."

Tori bites her lip amused. She looks to the side at Jun who raises her hands in front of her as if to say 'hey, don't look at me'.

"Actually, the whole flipping your hair over your shoulder and being all sweaty thing? Completely unattractive," Jade adds, but the way her eyes rake over Tori's body tell another different story. "In fact-"

Tori puts her hand over her mouth before she can say more. "I get it, you loved it," she says. And when she puts her hand away, Jade doesn't deny it.

"'Kay, so, I'm off." Jun's all packed up and Tori worries for a second that the weight of her bag will crush her. "Good job today. Anthony's gonna cream his pants when he hears it."

"Uhm, yeah thanks," Tori replies amused and a little disturbed. "You too."

"Cool. Hey, send me a text when you wanna practice again."

"Sure. Bye, Jun."

"Laters."

The door clicks behind her and Tori moves to pick up her stuff. "Where's the rest of the gang?"

Jade glances at her phone. "They should be here any minute now." They had agreed to meet up after Tori's practice so Jade would finally show them the final script. If she's honest with herself, she's a little nervous. It's no secret that she loves the weird and the bizarre but for the film festival she's tried something different, something more mature. Less horror, more drama. It's not just gory murder or clowns not bouncing. It's more personal, closer to her heart. Sort of like her play "Well Wishes", the one her Dad  _claimed_ to like and then never mentioned again, ever. So yes, showing her work to other people is always nerve-wracking, but this one she's especially nervous about.

Cat's the first to arrive, hugging Tori from behind tightly. "I'm so excited!" She exclaims, her grin brightening up the room. "We're making a movie!"

"Uh, not exactly a movie, though-" Tori comments, but Cat's not listening.

"Jade," she says, sobering up all of a sudden, "answer me truthfully. Are there any mailmen in the script?" Her words are uttered slowly and with seriousness.

"Uhm." Jade blinks, her mind blanking for a moment. "No?"

Cat lets out a long, relieved breath. "Phew."

"What… do you have against mailmen?" Tori asks, completely befuddled.

"I don't like their attitude!" Cat snaps just as the door opens and the boys join them. "Like this one time, my brother was following a mailman, and saying 'HAVE YOU SEEN MY PACKAGE? STOP RUNNING, I KNOW YOU'VE SEEN MY PACKAGE!' and the mailman totally ignored him and two days later he had a restraining order!"

"Cat…" Tori says carefully, "have you considered that maybe he wasn't the mailman?"

Cat tilts her head and then her eyes widen comically. "Ooh…" she whispers, drawing out the vocal.

"And after this thrilling story…" Beck says, changing topics. "Jade? Scripts?"

"Right." She picks the stapled papers from her messenger bag, passes each of them a copy of the script. "I thought I'd read it out loud while you guys follow it with your own copies."

There's a chorus of "cool"s and "okay"s and the gang sits on the floor in a circle, ready for Jade's voice to transport them into the world she's created.

The story's called "Lips Sealed". The protagonist is a guy who's whole family died in a car accident when he was young. But he was also in the car and the only one to survive. Since then, he hasn't uttered a word. After entering the system, he visited numerous therapists, but his silence didn't seem to have a specific cause or a cure. He's just mute.

The story follows his struggles to make himself be heard in a world so loud and unforgiving. His silence is compensated by his overactive imagination. All through the script there are a few fantasy sequences in which he visualizes what he'd like reality to be like. Like when a guy is rude to him at the bus, he visualizes himself standing up and punching him in the face. Or when he's having a drink at the bar, he imagines himself going up to the stage to sing a song. But he always snaps backs to reality. The reality where he can't utter a sound and where he shrinks into himself, makes himself smaller.

One day at the bar, he gets the courage to leave a note for the girl who's always glancing his way. Eventually he falls in love with her and she with him. But the girl soon grows frustrated, irritated, angry. She wants him to talk, to tell her what he feels. And he's powerless. One of the ending scenes is a very emotional argument between them, a one-sided dialogue. She tells him "How could I know how you feel, when you can't tell me?" In his mind, he conjures up a fantasy in which he pushes his hand into his chest – literally through his flesh – and pulls his heart out. He hands it to her, bloody and warm and what he means is: "Take it, it's yours." But the fantasy is just that, a product of his imagination, of his inner desires, and when it ends, she's still standing there, expecting him to answer.

He gets mad because he's incapable of communicating with her and goes on frenzy, destroying his apartment. She gets scared, steps away when he reaches for her and leaves, incapable of continuing their relationship. Devastated, he goes up to the roof. And just when everyone thinks he's gonna jump, he screams. So long and hard and raw, his unused vocal cords burn until his eyes water. He collapses. The last scene shows a neighbor that heard him screaming running up to him. The woman calls an ambulance, and the guy just lays there, eyes vacant, staring at the blue sky above him, knowing he's lost everything.

When Jade reads 'The End' there's a minute of absolute silence in the room. The girl's starting to worry, when finally Andre mutters "wow."

"Holy shit," Robbie adds immediately and then there's a flurry of exclamations and praises that settle into Jade's chest and let her breath again.

"But, who's gonna play Ethan?" Andre asks worriedly. "He has to be  _good_."

"And whoever plays Lauren, too," Cat adds thoughtfully.

"She has to be able to play a bitch," Robbie comments.

"She's not a bitch!" Tori argues. "She just… couldn't understand him."

"Yeah, she couldn't handle it," Beck explains matter-of-factly. "It's a thing that happens. It's no one's fault."

"And he scared her," Tori continues, "none of them did the right thing. It's very messed up."

"But that's what's cool, right?" Andre asks, finger tapping on the script repeatedly. "People are messed up. It's real life."

"Where are we gonna get a human heart?" Robbie wonders out loud.

"Well, my brother knows a guy that-" Cat starts.

"Guys, don't be ridiculous," Tori snorts, "we're not using a real human heart." She glances at Jade, a little unsure. "Right?"

Jade tilts her head and purses her lips as if to say 'well now that you mention it'.

"There are props for that!" Tori screeches.

Jade rolls her eyes. " _Why, yes Mister, I can suck the fun out of everything, thanks for asking!"_ She mocks in her Tori-voice. The other girl pouts, throwing her foot out to give a weak kick to Jade's boot.

"I don't even sound  _remotely_  like that," Tori grumbles.

Robbie slaps Andre on the arm. "Oh! You could compose some super dark music for it!"

"Ow, unnecessary." Andre rubs at his arm with a small frown. "But yes, I could."

"Add a bit of the magic of cinema," Beck singsongs, waving his hand around, "and I think we could have a very real chance."

There are nods and grins all around and Tori turns to Jade who's just watching them with her chin on her palm. "Does the director have anything to add?"

"Director?" Jade asks surprised.

Tori leans back on her hands. "Only you can direct this, Jade," she says like it's obvious, "make it dark and beautiful and just that little bit macabre."

Jade looks around for someone to argue Tori's point, but she only finds confirmation. She would never admit it out loud, but the fact that her friends consider her stuff good enough means the world to her. Rejection and mockery of her writing really wounds Jade and her pride, even if she hides it well, so she's extremely relieved that the response is positive. "Okay," she says finally, confident smirk growing slowly, "let's get to work then."

 

It takes them a couple days to figure out who'll play who, where to film and what materials they will need. Everyone but Jade does a read of the characters and even some other students from the school audition for the main roles, but in the end it's Tori and Beck that have the best chemistry. They know the characters better and they're, arguably, among the most experienced and talented students in Hollywood Arts.

After a talk with Principal Dubois to explain their situation, Helen gives them permission to use whatever they need from the school: cameras, lights, props and anything they can find useful in the Black Box. Her only condition is that they sign a contract where they promise to take care of the material as if it's their first born – Jade has to read that twice to make sure she isn't seeing things – and accept to pay a fee if anything is broken.

"Have we found any boom microphones?" Tori checks another item from the list on her clipboard as they take inventory in the Black Box.

"Uh," Jade mumbles, looking around at the few boxes with cables and the like. "I think Robbie went to check with the Tech Theatre nerds."

Tori scribbles something on her notes. "Spotlights?"

"Small ones are here." Jade point at another box. "The rest is in Beck's RV."

Another scribble. "Wardrobe and make up?"

"Cat's on it."

Scribble. "Fake heart and other props?"

"Already in Beck's van."

Scribble. "Camera?"

"We have two. One's here. Andre took the other to 'familiarize' with it," Jade replies, making quotation marks with her fingers.

"Okay, cool." Tori writes down the last note, flips the page to the one that says 'Locations'. All the outdoors scenes have a little tick on the side that means they're already planned. "Now all we need to figure out is where to film the apartment scenes and… oh, the roof."

Tori plops into one of the student chairs, props her chin up with her elbow on her knee.

"I was thinking," Jade starts, tone careful. She paces in front of Tori. "My Dad's apartment is spacious and well illuminated and he's almost never home."

Tori looks up at her, trying to mask her surprise.

"We could change the decoration a bit, make it look more lived in…" Jade keeps talking and pacing, staring off into space. "For the scene where Ethan trashes his apartment, we could go right after class and make sure everything is back in its place by night. I mean, my Dad basically only sleeps there, so… it's not like he'd notice. Not that we could do it without asking him, and it's gonna have to be  _me_  and I haven't talked to him in a while because he pisses me off so much, and every time he-" Jade is growing more and more agitated by the second, her tone biting and her fists clenching, so Tori cuts her rant off.

"Okay," she says, reaching out to wrap her hand around Jade's fist, fingers rubbing on white knuckles soothingly. "Sounds good."

Jade looks down at her and lets out a breath. "Yeah…"

"And about the roof," Tori tries changing topics, "I might have an idea."

Jade turns a chair towards her, seats with her feet on Tori's lap. Her combats boots squeak against the leather of Tori's pants as she makes herself comfortable. "Let's hear it, then."

"Well, back when I was dating Danny-"

"I don't like this idea," Jade snaps.

" _Back when I was dating Danny_ ," Tori pointedly ignores Jade, "he lived with his aunt in a fourteen-story building with a roof. The buildings in the neighborhood were all smaller so the view was pretty great." Tori recalls the times he stayed at his place in the summer, waiting for the sunrise with one of Daniel's soft sweatshirts protecting her from the chilly morning air. "We'd get up there on summer mornings" she says with a small smile, "and the air was still cool from the night and we'd drink warm cocoa and watch the sunrise."

"That sounds terrible," Jade replies with venom in her tone, a grimace on her face.

"It was romantic!"

"Okay, new rule," Jade says, "no talk about exes."

"But-"

" _Vega,_ " Jade warns icily.

"Okay, but what about the roof?" She reasons quickly. "I think it's perfect. I'll contact his aunt myself, I'm sure she'll be delighted to have a short film shot on her roof." Jade doesn't look convinced. "He doesn't even have to be there."

" _Fine_ ," Jade spits through clenched teeth, "but I better not see his wormy face on my set."

"You won't," Tori assures her, "I promise."

Tori scribbles some more notes on her clipboard, using Jade's shins as a table. A few minutes of silence later, she pipes up: "About that rule, though…"

Jade's head snaps to her, eyebrow raised in warning.

"What if  _I_  want to know about your exes?"

Jade squints. "How many people do you think I've dated, Vega? What do you think I am? Some kind of slut?"

"What?! No!"

" _Oh_ , so you're saying I'm not pretty enough to be a slut."

Tori gapes like a fish. "That's not-"

"'Cause I've had plenty of opportunities. Oh, you can't even  _begin_  to imagine," Jade continues on her tirade. "But I also have standards. And just so you know, I've only dated one person apart from you."

"Okay, so, what if I want to know about him?" Tori asks, still trying to follow the conversation.

"Maybe I should introduce you, then," Jade says sarcastically. "His name is Beck, I think you'd like him."

Tori huffs, "stop being obtuse, you know what I mean." She rubs her temple, feeling a tiny, dull throb there. When Jade wants to, she excels at being difficult. "I wanna know… about you two. About what you… did," she finishes, being purposefully vague.

Jade drops her feet to the floor, leans forward on her thighs. The cleavage of her shirt drops tantalizingly and Tori can't help but steal a glance. "What do you mean 'what we did'?" But Jade can already imagine the answer.

"You know… stuff."

"You mean sex," Jade has no trouble saying. "You want to know if Beck and I had sex."

Tori shrugs, "well, if you wanna tell me…"

Jade leans back again, cranes her neck towards the door and crosses her arms. "We… did." She rolls her eyes. "Had sex."

"Oh, okay," Tori says, not really sure what she was expecting. There's a pause and then: "How was it?" Tori tries really hard to sound casual.

"The sex?" Jade asks unnecessarily, shrugs one shoulder. "It was alright."

Tori nods, not knowing what to do with that information. She taps her pen on the clipboard, bites her lip and ponders how to approach the next question.

"Do you want to have sex with me?" Well, that's a way.

Jade does a double take, frowns as she looks around, but otherwise doesn't seem too shocked. "What, like, now?"

"No, I don't mean  _now,_ " Tori replies with a huff. "I mean, like, in general. 'Cause we never… you know. And we've done  _things_ but every time it looks like we're getting there it's just… awkward. And maybe it's because of what happened in your room before we started dating for real, 'cause I admit that was kinda dumb but, I don't know…" Tori rambles, not looking at Jade in the eye. "Maybe we should just  _get over it_  and do it already. 'Cause I  _want_  to do it. Like, I  _really_  do. And I don't mean now, but maybe like, soon?"

She finally looks at Jade. The other girl is staring intently at her, eyes piercing. She pulls her lip into her mouth, nods her head once and says: "Okay. Soon."

Tori's a bit surprised at how simple that was. She lets out a little chuckle, playing with the last button of her shirt. "Well…" she mumbles, "that wasn't embarrassing or anything."

Jade pulls her chair closer to Tori's, one hand resting on her thigh where she starts drawing shapes with her black polished nails, leaving indentations on the dark leather. "I'd say it was more… informative," Jade says, tone teasing. Tori looks at her questioningly. "I had no idea you were such a hornbag. Learn something new everyday, I guess."

"Oh, my God," Tori groans, face flushing scarlet. She pushes at Jade's shoulder but the girl just bounces back. "You're such an ass."

"I thought you were more of a boobs kinda gal," Jade keeps on teasing her. "You know what with the constant staring at mine."

Before Jade can finish the sentence, Tori has her hands pressed against her ears, which are reddened and warm. "I hate you so much right now."

Jade captures her wrists, grinning wickedly. The girl starts squirming so Jade jumps from her chair and sits on Tori's thighs. "You say that but you still want me. Like, you  _really_  do," Jade quotes Tori's words from before.

Tori's hands are trapped on Jade's lap, and with Jade sitting sideways on her, she has nowhere to scape. She's left staring at Jade straight on. She takes note of the curve of Jade's mouth, the greenish-blue irises, the dark eyebrows, slightly arched in question, maybe even challenge. Tori bites the corner of her bottom lip, takes a short breath and says: "yeah, I do."

And there's really nothing else for Jade to do but close the small gap between them and kiss Tori, hard, a little desperately. Jades lets go of her hands, cups her cheeks, angles her face just so. Tori melts into the chair. The way Jade is kissing her is exhilarating, revealing; it's saying  _I know you want me and the feeling is entirely mutual_.

The door to the Black Box opens. Robbie has an armful of a selection of different boom microphones, the cables dragging behind him. "Hey, can somebody help me with these?!" He yells as he pushes them through the door clumsily. Jade pulls back from Tori, head snapping up to see who dares intrude their moment. "Jade, you're gonna have to chose which one you-"

" _Robbie_!" She roars angrily, making him notice their position and the way Jade has murder written all over her face. "One more step and I  _will_ snap you in half," she assures him.

"I was just on my way out," he chirps as he does a 180 and scurries out of the room like a scared little mouse.

Tori drops her head down; the smell of lilacs and fabric softener surrounds her as she giggles into Jade's shoulder.

 

Soon turns out to be  _soon_.

The chain reaction that gets them to that point starts that same Thursday and the trigger is no other than Dylan Giambona.

Tori's chatting with Cat and Jade at her locker. The redhead is telling them about the clothes she's picked for Ethan and Lauren, how she thinks his should be browns and grays to her reds and blues. Jade seems agreeable to the idea, trusting Cat knows her styling and wardrobe better than she does.

"Hey, Tor!" Three pairs of eyes turn towards the newcomer. Dylan flashes a row of perfect white teeth at them and Jade growls quietly. "I was looking for you. Check this out."

He hands her a flyer, green hues under big white letters that read: 'Calliope Bar presents AMBER SKIES in concert. Free entrance. Friday 8 p.m.'

"Hey! Your band?" She asks excited.

"It's a good thing they didn't let me name it, uh?" He chuckles. Tori agrees, remembering the terrible names he suggested at first. "And… turns out I'm not that bad of a singer," he adds. "So, I can count on you, right? It's a pretty small place but it would royally suck if it was empty for our first concert."

"Uhm, tomorrow?" She turns towards Jade to check if they have anything planned, but she seems to be busy trying to melt Dylan's brain with the sheer force of her hate-stare.

"Oh, you can bring your friends if you want!" Dylan exclaims when she hesitates, clearly referring to Jade and Cat.

Jade is positively fuming. In what sounds like a friendly tone, but Tori knows is laced with venom, she says: "Sure! We'll be there, right,  _Tor_?"

"Ah, yeah."

"Awesome!" Dylan fist-pumps into the air.

"Yaaaay." Jade's voice drips with sarcasm. She turns towards Tori. "I'm gonna head to the cafeteria."

Tori's nodding, the words about to scape her mouth when Jade grips the front of her jean skirt, fingers hooking on her belt, and pulls her into a passionate kiss, lips and tongue so insistent, Tori feels like she wants to devour her. She pulls back, no preambles, and Tori has to lean back into the lockers, her head light and fuzzy.

"I'll save you guys a seat," Jade says unbothered. "Nice seeing you, Donald."

"It's uh… Dylan." But Jade's long gone.

"Sorry about her, she's just…" Tori trails off, not really sure which one of the wide range of adjectives that describe Jade to use.

He scratches the side of his neck nervously. "Ah, it's alright," he says. "You guys together?"

Tori can't understand how Dylan didn't know that. The whole school knows that. They've made out against the lockers more times that she can count, for Christ's sake. But then again, Dylan's never been the brightest. "Yep."

"Cool." He nods and it seems genuine. "I didn't know you were gay."

"Oh." Tori blinks, caught a little off guard. "I- I'm not-"

"It's totally cool though!" He reassures her hurriedly. "I didn't mean it like-"

"No, I know," she cuts him off. "I just… I don't think I identify as gay, I guess." She looks to her side at Cat, who just stares back at her attentively. "I'm just, you know, a person, dating another person." She shrugs, then chuckles at the thought: "I'm a free spirit!"

And it really is that simple. Perhaps bisexual would fit her better, but Tori's taking a leaf out of Jade's book and going with the undefined label. She's not uncomfortable with people thinking she's gay or straight or whatever they want; the last thing she is is prejudiced. But after some thought, Tori realized that maybe Jade was onto something. So this is what she's going with at the moment: Tori Vega, free spirit.

"Cool," Dylan says for the hundredth time. His eyes are wide and he's got a fascinated expression on his face. "That's so cool. I like that."

"Me too," Cat agrees, her tone full of wonder. Her face morphs into a thoughtful frown and Tori wonders if she's thinking about dating a girl. Or maybe she's just imagining what a free spirit looks like. Probably the latter.

"Ha, yeah. Anyway, we should probably…" Tori points in the direction Jade left.

"You coming to the gig then, right?" Dylan calls as they leave.

"We'll be there!" She throws back.

"Dylan's nice," Cat mentions as they enter the Asphalt Cafe. "But I don't think Jade likes him very much."

"You think?" Tori jokes. They buy a plate of ravioli each from Festus and join their friends at the table. Jade doesn't look up when they sit, focused instead on her salad.

"So… it'll be fun, right?" Tori asks. "You like music," she says lamely.

"We're not going."

Tori sighs, she was expecting this. It's no secret that Jade West is a jealous person; anyone who's caught glimpses of her relationship with Beck knows that much. But what Tori's figured out that they haven't, is that it comes from a place of insecurity, a deep-rooted fear of abandonment. And, well, also the simple fact that Jade doesn't like sharing.

"Come on," Tori whines, poking at her thigh with her finger. She smiles goofily. "Remember the last concert we went together to?"

Jade doesn't answer, just chews slower, tilts her head as if to say 'go on, I'm listening'.

"From what I remember, we had a  _pretty nice_  time," Tori continues, a teasing lilt to her voice. There's no way she'll ever forget that concert and the time in Jade's car before going home; her first time to get to second base with Jade. "It could be just like that."

Jade still seems unconvinced so Tori uses the last ace up her sleeve. "I'll wear that dress again."

"Fine," Jade accepts. "But Beck is driving."

"What? Since when am I going?" The boy looks up from his sandwich confused.

"We're all going!" Cat exclaims excited.

"Uh, no I'm not," Andre says sadly, "I have to stay home with my grandma. She heard something about a meteor shower on the news and now she's sure her shower head is out to get her."

"I can hang out with you if you want," Robbie offers. "The loud music hurts my eardrums."

"He's a delicate flower, this one," Rex teases.

"Rex!" Robbie cries offended, his hand rubbing his own ears softly.

Andre chuckles. "Yeah, you can come over."

"Okay, so it's just the four of us," Cat counts. "Oh, we could ask Trina?"

"No!" The other three say at the same time.

"Okay…" Cat drawls, puts her hands up in defense. "No need to shoot the messenger."

"That saying doesn't make sense there." Tori points at her with her plastic fork.

"Whaaaat?" The redhead asks confused, elongating the word.

"Because you said-" Tori feels a hand on her thigh and turns to see Jade shaking her head.

"No, no. No, no," she says.

Tori understands and smiles at Cat to brush it off. They eat in a comfortable silence for a minute before Tori remembers something.

"Oh, shoot!" She says suddenly, hand slapping the table and making one of her raviolis jump in the air. "Didn't your mom want to have dinner with us tomorrow?"

Jade pushes her empty plate away. "I didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"She left on a business trip this morning. Won't be back 'til Sunday night."

"Oh," Tori mutters disappointed. Valerie's already cancelled twice and she was the one to propose a dinner with her daughter and her girlfriend. Tori's starting to see why Jade was so unenthusiastic when she said her mom was cool. So maybe Valerie is a fun, modern woman, that seems to genuinely care for her daughter, but she still breaks her promises like it's her job. Tori knows it's hard for Jade, she can tell, even if the girl acts like nothing bothers her.

"You could stay over," Jade mentions casually. "After the concert, I mean. No need for Beck to drive to your place  _and_  mine."

"Yeah," Tori's mouth goes a little dry suddenly. The facts connect in her brain like puzzle pieces: the talk they had the other day, the concert, the empty house, the sleepover. She takes a sip of water, swallows slowly. "That makes sense."

There might as well be a huge sign with flashing lights over Jade's head reading:

YOU MIGHT BE GETTING LAID TOMORROW.

POSSIBLY.

MAYBE.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reference: the song Tori sings is "Love Drunk" by Little Mix.


	4. Chapter 4

4.

 

The place _is_ small. It’s not ugly, could even be called charming with its orange lights and reddish wallpaper. There’s a bar on one side, and the few tables have been pushed back from the stage to leave room for the people to dance and rock to the music. There are no more than forty people in the whole bar, the majority is already standing in front of the stage, waiting for the band to start playing. Tori spots a nice table facing the stage and pulls Jade towards it to claim it before anyone else does. Cat and Beck follow closely and the girls sit in the cushioned chairs. 

“Drinks?” Beck asks. 

“I want pink lemonade!” Cat perks up.

Beck chuckles, “okay. Jade? Tori?”

Jade eyes the bar. There’s an attractive bartender with caramel skin and big brown eyes, dark hair down to her waist and from what Jade can see, a tight fit on the front of her shirt that rivals hers. “Do you think she’ll sell you a beer?”

Beck cranes her neck to see what she’s referring to and his eyebrows go up to his hairline. “I can definitely try.” He smiles cockily at them and Tori marvels at how far him and Jade have gone as friends. “Three beers then?”

He walks towards the bar – or more like struts, Tori thinks – his hand going up to ruffle his mane in an obvious move of seduction. Tori doesn’t doubt that he’ll charm her socks off even if he doesn’t get the beers. In the end, both things happen. Beck is back about ten minutes later, three beers in one hand, a glass of lemonade in the other and a little telling smirk on his face.

“Well?” Tori asks interested.

“Her name is Adriana,” he says, rolling the ‘r’ to try to say it like she did. “She said that if I remember it by the end of the night, she’ll give me her number.”

“Wow,” Tori says impressed before sipping from her beer. “You’ve got some serious game, buddy.”

He shakes his head, smiles around the tip of his bottle. Conversation flows easily while they wait for the concert to start and Tori’s beer is empty before she realizes. The sound of whistles and applause call their attention and they turn in time to see the band coming onto the stage. Dylan puts the strap of his guitar over his head, plucks some strings and taps on the microphone nervously.

“Ah, yeah, hi. We’re Amber Skies and this is ‘ _Let’s show the world_ ’.” His foot taps on the floor four times and then the music starts. The girl on the bass sets the pace, and then the drums enter. The beat is fun and the melody Dylan plays, light and catchy. He starts singing then, soft and playful and the whole bar is charmed instantly.

“They sound _good_.” Tori’s actually a bit embarrassed of how surprised she is.

“Whatever,” Jade mutters disinterestedly. She throws her head back and downs the rest of her beer.

“You guys want another?” Beck asks.

Tori shakes her head, “maybe later.” She stands, holds her hand out for Jade. “I wanna dance. Come on.”

There’s a silent conversation between them, an ‘are you serious?’ and a ‘yeah, absolutely’, until Jade gives in and follows Tori to the dance floor. Cat and Beck watch them go, still nursing on their respective drinks.

They let themselves be swayed by the beat, although at first Tori has to coax Jade into it. It reminds Tori so much of the first concert they went to, but at the same time, everything is so different. There are no sweaty bodies bumping into them and Tori’s not drunk, for starters. The music is not all guitar riffs and hard rock, but soft melodies that remind her of hot summer days driving towards the beach, of sun-kissed shoulders and the taste of oranges in her mouth. And this time, Jade is hers and she is Jade’s.

One song turns into another and another and by the time they go back to the table, Jade can’t hide her grin; she’s having fun. Beck is at the bar, chatting with Adriana and Cat is nowhere to be seen. The boy sees them sitting at the table and says something to the bartender. Moments later, he’s back at the table with two more beers and a water bottle – he’s the designated driver after all.

“How is it going with _Adriana_?” Tori has no trouble rolling her ‘r’.

Beck points a finger at her, impressed, “nice.” He takes a long swing of his water. “And it’s going great, I think. She’s witty, keeps catching me off guard. I like that.”

Jade notices the absence of certain chipper redhead. “Where is Cat?”

“First row,” he replies, thumb pointing towards the dance floor. “Didn’t you see her?”

“Really?” Tori cranes her neck, trying to spot the girl through the small crowd.

“Mh,” Beck replies, his head bobbing to the beat.

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom real quick.” Tori jumps out of her seat, suddenly noticing she really needs to pee. “Be right back.”

It doesn’t take her more than 10 minutes to stand in the short line and pee, but when she comes back Beck has disappeared and there’s a tall guy with sandy blonde hair standing next to their table and talking to Jade. She doesn’t look all that interested in what he’s saying but that doesn’t seem to deter him.

“Sorry,” Tori says as she sits and takes her beer, “there was a line.”

“Oh hey, hi,” the guy says. He has huge lips, and his chin is so square it looks like a PEZ. Tori wants him gone. “I was just telling your friend here that I’ll buy her a beer, maybe you can help me convince her.”

Tori rolls her eyes; there’s that word again. Why does everyone think they’re only friends? Does she need to wear a t-shirt that says ‘GIRLFRIEND’ and a big, bold arrow pointing at Jade?

“Yeah, no thanks,” Tori replies pointing at their still full bottles. “My _girlfriend_ and I are good. So you can just…” she waves him off with her hand, “you know, go be somewhere else.”

“Girlfriend?” He asks confused. “You mean-?”

“I mean.”

His frown turns into a leering smirk. “ _You mean?”_

“Ugh, please,” Tori groans, “as if, buddy.”

The guy looks at Jade and Tori scoffs.

“You heard the lady,” Jade says casually. Then her face falls, eyes cold and menacing, “scram.”

He doesn’t seem to need to be told again, thankfully. Tori falls back against the backrest with a huff.

“Amazing,” she says, still irritated. “What an idiot.”

She looks at Jade for confirmation and finds the girl staring at her with a pleased smile on her face. It throws Tori for a loop. “What?” She asks. When Jade doesn’t reply, smile just growing into a smug grin, Tori gets a little nervous. “ _What?_ ”

“Nothing.” Jade shrugs, takes a long sip of her beer. “I just didn’t know you were the jealous type.”

“I’m not-“ Tori can’t even deny that, when her blood is still boiling. The nerve of this guy, hitting on _her_ girl in front of her. She bites the inside of her cheek instead.

“Hey, I’m not complaining.” Jade puts a hand on the back of her chair, her thumb rubs at Tori’s back where her dress doesn’t cover. “I like it. Beck was always fine with everything. I did things to make him jealous and he just didn’t care. He said he trusted me, which fine, okay, it’s very reasonable and rational, but…” Jade licks her lips, blinks up at Tori like she’s trying to seduce her. As if she needs to. “Sometimes it feels good to know you have the power to make someone unreasonable and irrational.”

Tori’s ready to leave from that very second.

They don’t though, and it’s torture, but at least the music is good and the company is fantastic. Eventually, the band finishes playing and everyone goes to congratulate them. Tori catches sight of Cat talking animatedly to Dylan. The girl is glistening with sweat and her bow is crooked, but she looks completely ecstatic. She points in their direction and Dylan looks over, waving when he sees them. Tori gives him a thumbs up and he grins before leaning down to say something to Cat. Beck comes back from the bar with a small paper folded in his hand. He kisses it and puts it safely in his pocket. When Cat comes back, bouncing and giggling, they decide it’s time to go home.

In the car, Cat fiddles with the radio until she settles on a familiar beat. “Aaaaah!” She exclaims happily, bouncing in the co-pilot seat and craning her neck back so Tori and Jade join her in her excitement. “ _Pull up in the monster, automobile gangster, with a bad shhhh that came from Sri Lanka–_ come on sing with me!”

Tori starts bobbing her head to the music, mumbling the few words she knows, while Beck and Cat get really into it.

“ _You could be the King but watch the Queen conquer!”_ Cat’s on full-blown gangster mode, her hands waving around frantically. “ _Ok, first things first I’ll eat your brains, then I’mma start rocking gold teeth and fangs.”_

It doesn’t take long before the four of them are rapping along with Nicki, badly and loudly; never mind the fact that Cat seems to be the only one that knows the lyrics. It’s like they’re in a bad teenage movie, rolling down the windows and yelling the lyrics at the car that stops next to them at a red light.

“ _I think big, get cash, make em blink fast. Now look at what you just saw, this is what you live for.”_ Cat takes a deep breath, sings along with the other three: _“I’m a motherfucking monster!”_

There’s a loud gasp and Cat’s hands go up to her mouth, looking at her friends with eyes wide as saucers. Jade throws her head back in laughter and falls into Tori’s side, her whole body shaking. Tori chuckles, taps Cat’s shoulder softly saying: “it’s alright Cat, we won’t tell.”

And when Azealia’s 212 starts playing, Cat perks up again, “oh, I love this one!” Tori finds it ironic how Cat seems to love all the songs with heavy cursing when she refuses to say them. In any case, it’s definitely impressive to watch her recite the lyrics while omitting every other word.

Jade’s place is the first stop. They stumble out, not quite drunk with only two beers in their system, but feeling happy and silly and on top of the world. Tori’s still humming to herself as they climb up the stairs towards Jade’s room.

“ _Yeah, my money’s so tall that my Barbie’s gotta climb it,”_ she raps one of the few lyrics she knows. They enter Jade’s room, Jade moving to open the window and let some air in; she’s feeling warm all over. “ _Dada dada dada dada find it – find it!”_ Tori babbles, “ _dada dada dada wine it – wine it!”_

Jade snickers, fingers clutching the bottom of her shirt to pull it off. “Yeah, you have a bright career as a rapper ahead of you.” Shirtless and unbothered, she turns towards her closet to look for a shirt to sleep in.

“Har-har.” Tori kicks off her black ankle boots and reaches behind her to unzip her dress. “Just like your career as a comedian.”

“Why, thank you, Vega. I try.”

“Shut up, West.” Frustrated, Tori squirms, her arm bending back uncomfortably for a few seconds before giving up. “Come here and unzip me.”

“Feisty.” Jade, still in her black bra, walks up to Tori and brushes her hair away to reach the zipper. “You weren’t like this when we started dating.”

“Mh,” Tori agrees as the zipper is pulled down. “A lot of things have changed since then.”

Jade doesn’t answer, but her fingers linger at the small of her back. She takes a short moment to admire Tori’s back dimples and then her hand trails up her spine to her shoulder blades and down again with a feather light touch. She’s gone the next moment, off to look for some sleepwear again and Tori’s left there, breath caught in her throat, watching as she goes. Mindless of her dress, it falls and pools down at her feet and Tori stands in the middle of the room in her underwear and her whole body humming. She feels like she’s charged with energy and everything in her body is reacting to Jade; a magnetic pull, an unavoidable attraction. And the next thing she knows, she’s crossing the space between them in two long strides and slamming Jade against the wall, her mouth swallowing Jade’s surprised yelp.

Tori pushes her body tight against Jade’s, breasts pressing and the skin of their torsos brushing together. Jade responds in kind to Tori’s frenzied kisses; flicks her tongue into Tori’s mouth, wraps her arms around Tori’s thin waist. Nothing quite registers in Tori’s foggy brain as Jade walks them from the wall to the bed. Their lips are still connected as they tumble on top of it. Jade’s hands familiarize with Tori’s skin; the parts she’s touched before and the parts she hasn’t. She’s at her neck, her chest, her stomach, the outside of her thighs. When she stops at her ribs– her most ticklish spot– Tori squirms under her, smiles against her lips.

Jade pulls back, eyebrow arched mischievously as her fingers dance over the small bumps of her ribs.

“Don’t,” Tori breathes out, her eyes dark with desire. Jade moves her hand to Tori’s hip and kisses down her jaw, stopping to lick and suck at her neck. Tori’s squirming differently now, her hips jerking up to gain some friction against Jade’s, which are still covered in her skinny jeans.

Tori won’t have that.

She pushes at Jade’s shoulder, flips them over to straddle her and rejoin their hungry mouths. Jade lets her, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her down. One of her hands wanders down to Tori’s backside, making the girl’s hips rock into her. Tori bites Jade’s bottom lip, pulls it into her mouth and sucks. Jade moans and Tori’s hips rock down again, pulling back frustrated a moment later.

“Fuck,” she mutters to herself, her hands slipping between them to unbutton Jade’s pants. That part is easy, the hard part is pushing them down Jade’s hips. “Fuck, what-“ Tori sits back, pulls as hard as she can, “the hell? Are these painted on you?”

Jade chuckles and doesn’t do anything to help her but raise her ass from the bed. “Come on, Vega. Put those noodle arms to good use.”

“I’m- try- ing,” Tori pulls erratically, the skinny jeans slipping down with difficulty. When Jade’s finally liberated and the jeans are thrown back carelessly, Tori lays back down on top of Jade, their bodies rubbing deliciously against one another. “I hate those pants,” Tori husks between kisses.

Jade groans at the feel Tori’s legs tangling with hers. She jerks her hips up and Tori pushes hers down, again and again. Next thing she knows, Tori is kissing down to her chest, sucking at random points and leaving pink marks all over her skin. She reaches the top of Jade’s breasts and licks a trail before sinking her teeth on the supple flesh, hard; she can’t help it. Jade moans loudly, her hips shooting off from the bed.

“Sorry.” Tori looks up at her worriedly, her chin resting on Jade’s breastbone.

“Do it again,” Jade says, surprising her.

Tori frowns, “I don’t want to hurt you.”

A smirk pulls at Jade’s kiss-swollen lips, “a little pain with my pleasure, Tori.”

Tori licks her lips, looks down at the faint teeth mark that’s already showing on Jade’s breast. She soothes it with her tongue, then turns to bite at the other, getting the same excited reaction from her girlfriend.

“Can you-“ Jade stammers. She pushes up on her elbows, tries to unclasp her bra. “Take this fucking thing off.”

Tori doesn’t need to be told twice. She reaches around Jade’s back, fumbling a little before the clasp snaps. Her fingers drag up to Jade’s shoulders and down her arms, taking the bra straps with her. Jade is the one to send it flying to join her pants on the floor.

Tori sits back, eyes feasting on the sight before her like a starving woman.

“Fuck,” she whispers, her mouth already watering.

“You know you curse like sailor when…” Jade trails off, suddenly a little shy.

“I’m- you-“ Tori’s hands come up to cover the soft flesh, her tan hands contrasting beautifully with Jade’s porcelain skin, with her pink nipples. “I’m sorry, you’re just fucking gorgeous.”

“No, it’s really hot,” Jade replies, referring to how foul-mouthed Tori becomes when she’s turned on. The way Tori’s looking at her like she wants to eat her up and the curious hands at her breasts are making her breathing shaky.

Tori leans down, slowly, almost like on a trance and her mouth attaches to the side of Jade’s breast. She starts peppering them with small sucks and bites, growing more and more aggressive as Jade trashes under her, her hands coming up to tangle through Tori’s hair. When Tori’s mouth finally connects with her nipple, Jade throws her head back, a deep groan escaping from her throat.

Tori’s in heaven. Jade’s breasts have been driving her crazy since forever. She’s been fixated; even long before they started dating she couldn’t help but sneak a glance every once in a while. And now she thinks she’s in love with the way Jade moans and buckles her hips as she licks her nipple, broad strokes with the flat of her tongue, while the other is being teased under her thumb.

She could be doing this all night, but there’s so much more she wants to do. Her hand goes behind her back, unclasping her own bra without trouble – an impressive feat with her hormones making her fingers clumsy and her skin tingle. Jade sits up as soon as Tori’s bra is off, not leaving Tori a lot of time to be shy about her smaller chest before Jade presses her face into it. Tori holds the back of her head there as Jade discovers what she likes; the wet kisses and her tongue circling around her nipples. Now it’s Tori’s turn to buckle her hips, letting Jade feel her wetness through her underwear as she humps her hipbone. It makes Jade slow down, look up at Tori through her eyelashes.

Tori bites the corner of her lip, her hips not stopping their motion. It’s one of the sexiest things Jade has ever seen. Looking straight into Tori’s eyes, her pupils blown and eyelids heavy, while the girl keeps shamelessly doing _that_ – it’s like looking up at a goddess. Jade’s hand moves to Tori’s stomach, then lower, over her panties and between her legs until she feels her warmth and wetness against her fingers.

“Oh, God,” Tori chokes, her head dropping, forehead coming to rest on top Jade’s. The fingers between her legs rub against her through the fabric and when Jade’s thumb presses into her clit, she lets out a high-pitched moan. And then they’re kissing again, tongues caressing each other as Tori pushes Jade back onto the bed. Her right hand slithers down between their bodies as she holds herself up with the other elbow. Her idea was to do to Jade what the girl is doing to her, but when her fingers catch on the elastic of Jade’s panties, there’s not a moment of hesitation as she pushes them down. Tori’s own underwear soon follows.

And then they’re both naked.

There two seconds of stillness as they just lay there, savoring the feel, the warmth, the closeness. The connection of two opposites, two complementary bodies. And then Tori’s hand is back to business between Jade’s legs, dying to touch, to give. She finds Jade wet and ready; it feels so familiar and so alien at the same time. Jade’s breath comes in short pants, head angled back and eyes shut tight. Tori latches onto her neck, alternating between gentle and hard bites, dragging her teeth down to her collarbones and leaving blemishes all over her skin.

Her fingers take their time exploring, finding out what Jade likes, what makes her whimper and what gets her wetter. Tori knows what _she_ likes, so she starts with that; sliding Jade’s clit between her middle and forefinger, up and down, again and again, and then circling it hard, fast, soft, slow. It makes Jade’s breathing come in shaky pants, her chest raising and falling and her back bending slightly.

Tori kisses the underside of her jaw, watches her between half-lidded eyes, drinking it all in and committing it to memory.

Her hips are humping Jade’s leg, the friction barely alleviating her desire. But she’s a woman on a mission; she’ll make Jade come like she’s never done before, like Beck never could. Tori dips down her middle finger, the tip teasing at Jade’s entrance as her thumb rubs her clit in wide circles.

“Tori, please,” Jade begs – actually begs. Jade West, brow glistening, pink lips parted in a way that is almost obscene and voice vulnerable and needy. And God, to Tori’s ears, it sounds like beautiful music. So Tori complies, pushes a finger in first, then two, until she’s surrounded by Jade and it’s tight and warm, and she never knew doing this to someone else could feel so good.

She’s pumping her hand, her middle finger curling upwards, seeking that spot. And Jade’s hips are following her pace, one hand grabbing the back of Tori’s neck and bringing their faces close.

“Keep doing that,” Jade pants against her cheek. Tori nods dumbly, not even aware that stopping was an option. There’s a small cramp in her hand but she barely notices as she concentrates on Jade, on bringing her over the edge. The girl is drenched, and Tori’s fingers are being squeezed almost constantly, but there’s a small frown on Jade’s forehead and Tori wants so bad for her to come but she doesn’t.

So she does the only thing she can think of. She ducks her head, licks at Jade’s nipple until it’s wet and glistening and bites down on it, pulling hard enough for it to sting.

“F-uck!” Jade’s back bends, coming off the bed with force. Her thighs clamp on Tori’s hand, trembling as she holds them closed tight. And then she’s coming with a long moan on her lips, her whole body tense and her core squeezing Tori’s fingers. Tori releases her nipple, soothing it with her tongue softly as her fingers help Jade ride her orgasm. Ripples of pleasure course through her in waves, making her quiver and tremble like a leaf in the wind. For Tori, it’s a sight to behold.

Tori’s still pumping her hand lazily as Jade’s muscles start to relax. “Too much,” Jade mutters, voice hoarse, and reaches down to stop Tori’s hand. Tori pulls it back, wipes her fingers on her thigh as she blows gently on Jade’s nipple, which is an angry red color now.

“Did I hurt you?” Tori asks a little worriedly.

Jade chuckles weakly. “Did that look like I was hurting?”

“It looked,” Tori starts before capturing her lips in a languid kiss, her center rubbing on Jade’s hipbone, her own desire almost unbearable now that she’s made Jade come, “like the best orgasm ever.” She whimpers into Jade’s mouth, her wetness leaving a trail on Jade’s skin.

“Give me ten seconds,” Jade replies, still trying to catch her breath and calm her drumming heart. “I’ll show you.”

It doesn’t take her more than two.

She flips Tori over and slips between her parted legs. Tori jerks her hips up, desperate for release.

“Impatient,” Jade chides.

“Do you know how fucking hot it is to watch you come?”

Jade doesn’t have a smartass reply to that, so she just kisses Tori thoroughly, hand coming up to play with her breasts. Her thumb is strumming a brown nipple when Tori grabs her hand and tries to push it down her body.

“Jade, please,” she whines, unable to handle anymore teasing. But Jade doesn’t fulfill her wish. She pulls her hand away, holds herself up as she looks at Tori.

“I don’t wanna do that,” Jade says. It almost makes Tori want to cry, until Jade ducks her head and kisses right between her breasts, then down to her stomach and around her belly button. Tori’s breath hitches when Jade doesn’t stop there. Her mind blanks out for a second; is Jade going to… She can’t even finish the thought.

The answer doesn’t take long to come.

Jade kisses the inside of her thighs, sucks at the juncture of her leg for only a moment, because Tori is looking down at her with wide eyes, hands clutching tight at her bed sheets, and she doesn’t want to tease her anymore. She wants to make this gorgeous girl cry out her name and watch her surrender to that sweet relief. 

“Oh, God!“ Tori cries out at the first feel of Jade’s tongue against her center. Her eyes roll to the back of her head; nothing’s ever felt so good as Jade’s warm and wet mouth on her. She licks her folds, sucks on them, then dips down to tease her entrance, collecting her wetness and dragging it up to her clit in a broad stroke. “Oh, my fucking God.” Tori feels a tear gather in her eye; her whole world is being turned upside down by this woman between her legs.

Jade teases Tori’s clit, bullies it out of its hood with the tip of her tongue. Then, her lips close around the small nub and she sucks hard, her tongue insistent in the inside of her mouth. Suddenly, she feels a sting of pain at her scalp; her is hair being pulled by Tori’s hand as her hips raise from the bed, closer to her, always closer. Jade moans at the pain, which feels like a vibration against Tori’s core. Jade has to wrap an arm over Tori’s abdomen to keep her from buckling off the bed. “Fuck! Fuck, Jade, I’m gonna-“ Tori’s sucking in her stomach, her legs shaking around Jade’s head. “Jade, oh f-“ the words get stuck in Tori’s throat as she comes, her body tensing and then releasing in small spasms. Tori’s skin tingles, nerve-endings igniting, and her vision blurs a little, which has never happened to her before. Is it possible to die from an orgasm? Tori might have to look that up later, because if this is what sex with Jade is going to be like, she should be prepared.

“Fuck,” she whines finally, pushing Jade’s head away from her sensitive center. She puts a hand over herself and closes her legs around it while she tries to gulp down the much-needed oxygen. Jade licks her lips, wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and watches as Tori comes down from her high. She lays next to her, satisfied and exhausted, and waits for Tori to regain her senses.

The girl finally opens her eyes, turns her head lazily on the pillow. “And _that_ was the best orgasm ever,” Jade teases, but her voice is quiet and gentle.

Tori smiles tiredly. “I won’t argue that.” She tries to move, orders her muscles to turn on her side, but they feel like jelly and won’t even respond. “Oh, God, I think you broke me.” Jade shoots her a questioning look. “I want to touch you, but I can’t even move.”

Jade rolls her eyes and scoots closer. Her leg tangles in between Tori’s and her arm wraps over her middle. All the excitement from the last hours, all the dancing, drinking, laughing and now this, is finally catching up to Tori. Her eyelids are heavy and soon she’s lulled to sleep by the warmth of Jade’s body. The last thing she remembers is the kiss that Jade drops to her shoulder before she falls asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

5.

 

 The first one to wake up is Jade. She blinks against the sunlight invading her room and frowns at the annoying chirping of birds coming from the trees in her street. And then she remembers she left the window open last night when Tori… well,  _attacked her_  sounds a bit too strong, but it does seem fitting. Smirking at the thought, Jade stretches and pads softly to the window to shut it and pull the curtains closed. The room is bathed in a soft orange light and her bed looks so inviting; there's a very beautiful and very naked girl sleeping peacefully in it. The sheets that they threw over themselves halfway through the night have pooled around her waist and her foot is dangling from the side of the bed.

Jade crawls back under the sheets and watches Tori's face closely as she sleeps. Her lips are parted and she's exhaling softly, making a tiny noise that falls between a snore and a sigh. Jade is suddenly overwhelmed with affection. Her thoughts wander back to that conversation she had with Tori, about their strong attraction, about the volatility of their relationship. It wasn't like this when she was with Beck; hadn't been for a while. Her heart didn't feel like it was going to burst out of her chest. She didn't find herself smiling at the most random moments because a thought of him popped into her mind. He was too easy, too similar to her. He didn't rile her up like Tori does, he didn't make her  _want him_  like Tori does. Her relationship with Beck was just… familiar, comfortable. With Tori everything's new and exciting. Beck was warmth where Tori's blazing fire. And Jade's no pyromaniac, she knows she should be scared by how strongly Tori bulldozed into her heart, but God, call her crazy, she would let the fire consume her whole.

She leans in and brushes her lips over Tori's chapped ones, willing those thoughts away. Tori doesn't respond, so she does it again, a little harder, a bit wetter. With her eyes still closed, Tori starts kissing back, first sleepily, like she's still halfway into dreamland and then with more purpose. Teasingly, Jade breaks the kiss, leaning back a few inches. Tori tries to follow, whining when Jade keeps moving out of her reach. It makes Jade chuckle.

"Mornin'" Tori rasps.

"Morning." Jade watches her blink her big brown eyes to the light and stretch her sore muscles. She's struck by the very random thought that Tori wakes up like she's in a Disney movie and she's one of those doe-eyed princesses that always look pretty and flawless; she'd hate her for it if she wasn't so enamored. "Sleep well?"

Tori looks at her, grins brightly. "God, yes." She turns on her side, grimacing slightly. "I'm a little sore, though."

Jade smirks. "Yeah, me too."

They just stare at each other for a moment, unable to contain their smiles.

"So, that happened," Tori says.

"Mh," Jade hums in agreement, flops onto her back, arms stretching above her. "How do you feel about that?"

"Part of me still has trouble believing it." Tori reaches out, hand resting on Jade's chest, right between her collarbones. Jade's usually immaculate skin is covered in bruises and bite-marks. Her fingers draw a trail from one to the other, like she's trying to convince herself that it was real. "God, it's just like-" Tori scoots closer and props herself up on her elbow. "Remember when you used to hate me?"

"God, I miss those days." Jade tsks jokingly. Tori pinches her side as she scrunches up her nose. Jade chuckles throatily, squirming away.

Tori stares at her, head on her hand. "Why did you anyways?"

Jade takes a deep breath thoughtfully. "Jealousy, pettiness, arrogance," she lists. God, she was a gank. Not that she's never a gank nowadays but at least she's grown out of the whole being a bitch 24/7 with no motive-thing. "Mostly, I thought you were irritating and way too perky."

"Mh," Tori hums with a small frown.

"But I also thought you were really hot which pissed me off even more."

Tori's eyebrows shoot up to her hairline. "Really? Wait- how long have you liked me for?"

"Who says I like you now?"

"Well," Tori scoffs, "I would say that your eyes betray you, but it's actually the fact that your tongue was in my mouth not eight hours ago."

"Yeah, my tongue was in very interesting places last night."

Tori's blush is exactly what Jade was looking for and she gets it full force, down to her neck and even her ears. She buries her face into the pillow to hide it. Jade laughs at Tori's muffled whine. She takes mercy on the girl though, turns on her side and puts a hand on her back, rubbing up and down soothingly.

It takes Tori a few minutes to look back at Jade again. "Do you know what day is today?" She asks quietly.

"Uh, Saturday?" Jade replies a little confused.

"Saturday," Tori repeats. "Two months ago, a day like today, I went to this audition with a girl who, I thought, didn't like me very much."

Jade blinks surprised, realizing what that actually means.

"Looking back now I see how dumb I was, 'cause it was pretty obvious that she did." Jade rolls her eyes, but doesn't argue. "And we kinda got into a fight, because we just  _love_  to fight, you know? And then we decided that we would date, but like, for real this time, because we were just really,  _stupidly_  into each other. How crazy is that?"

"Very."

"I mean,  _dating_ , she and I. Who went from hating to tentatively tolerating each other. Who are like, the most different people in the world. She, moody and irascible, me hardheaded and stubborn. It's a recipe for disaster, isn't it?"

"Mh."

"Well, guess what?"

"What?" Jade asks, amused and absorbed by Tori's retelling of their story.

"Two months later, we're still together." Tori grins cheekily. "We haven't killed each other – or anyone else for that matter. Who would've thought, uh?"

"Not me," Jade replies honestly. Everything Tori's said is true and in retrospective, she realizes how insane it sounds. "So, do you want to do anything special? Today?"

Tori seems to think about it, then shakes her head. "I just wanna stay in all day with you and order Chinese and watch a movie, maybe." She moves her hand under the sheets and over Jade's stomach, drawing circles around her belly button. "Stay in and… do this."

"This?" Jade cocks an eyebrow. "Be naked with me?"

Tori grins. Her hand wanders lower. "Yes, exactly."

"That can be arranged."

 

 

Tori barely sets a foot at her house the whole weekend and when she does, it's only to shower and change and let her parents know that she's still alive. True to her promise, Jade offers her hours of her undivided attention on Saturday. They soon find out that keeping their hands off of each other is harder now that they've crossed that last line. On Sunday, the weather is too hot to stay at home, so they call Andre – who's been complaining to Tori that they never hang out anymore – and drive to the beach. They go straight for the water, desperate to scape from the stifling and sticky air. Hours later, when they've stopped for lunch, Jade gets a call. She picks it up immediately, mutters a few words before covering the speaker and looking up at Tori.

"My Mom is on her way. She wants to know if you'd want to stay for dinner tonight."

"Oh, uhm, sure." A pause. "She's not gonna cancel again, is she?"

Jade sighs. "Your guess is as good as mine." And then into the phone she says: "She said yes. Uh huh, yep. Okay, bye."

Surprisingly, Valerie keeps her promise. Tori's still shaking the sand out of her hair when she arrives at the West household. Tori chats with her for a bit before she goes upstairs to change and Jade starts making dinner for the three of them. It turns out to be a very nice evening. They talk about going to the beach and about Jade's short film project. Tori wonders how Ms. West didn't know about that, but doesn't comment on it. Jade drives her home after and spends a few minutes kissing her in her driveway before letting her go.

Tori thinks, all in all, it's been a pretty fantastic weekend.

 

 

"Dude." A slap to her arm.

"Ow!" Jade cries out. She rubs at her arm, looks up at Tori like she's grown another head. "Did you just call me  _dude_?"

Tori's staring at some point across the hall, Jade can't see what because the door of her locker blocks it.

"Jade." Another series of slaps.

" _What_?" She bites out irritated. Instead of answering, Tori pulls on her shoulders and turns her in the direction she's been staring at. "Wha- holy shit. When did that start happening?"

"I have no idea."

Cat and Dylan are holding hands near the vending machines, looking at each other all googly eyed. Cat leans up on her toes and gives him a kiss on the cheek, before prancing away towards her locker. Without warning, Tori pulls at Jade's hand and the girl barely has time to slam her locker shut before Tori's dragging her towards the red-head.

" _Well_ ,  _well,_ " Tori singsongs, invading Cat's personal space.

"Oh, hi Tori." She turns to Jade. "And Jade. Tade. Jori. Jori! Hi, Jori!"

Tori ignores her. "What was  _that,_ uh?" She gives her a series of nudges and winks. Jade rolls her eyes.

Cat's face shows her absolute obliviousness. "What was what?"

" _That,_ " Tori points.

"A… vending… machine?"

"What's up with you and Giambona?" Jade snaps, tired of this absurd conversation. "You hooking up?"

"Who?"

"Dylan!" Tori's almost shaking with excitement. "We just saw you being all cute and… you know, together-y."

Jade mocks her under her breath " _Together-y._ "

"Oh!" Cat grins up at them. "We talked after the concert and he was like,  _hey we should hang out_ ," she says, imitating his boyish drawl, "and I was like, okay! And on Saturday we went to the arcade and he taught me how to play this really scary game, but I got to shoot a gun!" She mimes a gun with her hands and looks at them with wide eyes. "It was pink!"

"So…" Tori teases, "do you like him, or what?"

"I don't know." Cat blushes, presses her hands to her cheeks. "He's super cute though, isn't him?"

"Yes." Tori nods effusively, happy for her friend. Jade snaps her head towards her, eyes cutting. Her nod turns into a shake. "I mean,  _no_!" Cat frowns. "I mean, yes… for you. He's cute for you. He's not cute for me. That's what I meant."

"Nice save," Jade mutters.

Cat giggles. "So, what did you guys do this weekend?"

"Oh, you know," Jade smirks mischievously and Tori's stomach drops. "We spent most of it f-"

"Fencing!" Tori blurts, cutting Jade off. Cat seems curious and confused. "Yeah, yeah, we fence. You know with the- the sword thing and the beekeepers mask and- we have to go now. Bye!"

Tori can hear Jade snicker behind her as she pulls her towards their next class. One day this girl's gonna give her a heart attack. Just you watch.

 

 

"Okay, cut. Cut!"

It's been a couple of weeks of filming non-stop, balancing classes, shooting the outdoors scenes and auditioning other aspiring actors to play the small roles. Today, they're back at the Calliope Bar, filming the meeting scene between Ethan and Lauren. At first they were going to film it at the school, put a few tables together in a set. But then Jade realized they knew the perfect person to get them access to a real bar.

"Adriana?" Beck had asked unconvinced. "I don't know…"

"Her dad's the owner," Jade had reasoned. "And you two are like, the new It couple. I'm sure you'll find a way to convince her."

And Beck had, indeed. Adriana's dad had given them permission to film in his bar under a few conditions: they were to film while the place was closed, they had to get it done in two days tops and the logo and name of his establishment would appear at the end credits of the film. It seemed reasonable enough to Jade. After that, it was just transporting the materials to the bar. Adriana had called some friends to play as extras and they were ready to go.

"Tori, can you like-" Jade approaches the table she's seated in, a few tables away from Beck's. "When you read the note that Ethan left for you, make sure your hair is away from your face, because we want to see Lauren's reaction, okay?"

Tori nods as she brushes her hair back and over her shoulder. "Yeah, okay."

"You're doing great," Jade whispers.

Tori smiles gratefully before getting back into her character.

"Right, let's do it from the beginning!" Jade calls, coming to stand next to Robbie, who's operating the camera at the moment. Thankfully, he's been leaving Rex in Beck's RV during every shooting, although that might have something to do with the fact that Jade threatened to start a bonfire with the puppet if he showed up with him to her set. "Are you focusing on Beck first, then Tori?"

"Yep," he replies. "It looks great."

"Cool. Yeah, good." Jade glances at the clock on her phone. They don't have a lot of time before the bar opens. "Okay, this is the good one. Let's get it right. Ready? Action!"

Getting the meeting scene right is nothing compared to what they go through for the roof scene. It takes them days and astutely, Jade leaves the screaming part for the last day. She knows Beck will only be able to do it once and after he does, he'll probably be hoarse for a week. So first, they film the part where Ethan collapses and the neighbor – Daniel's aunt, who happens to be a decent actress and is absolutely delighted to be a part of it – comes to his rescue, calling the ambulance as she frets over him.

They even bring up a ladder so Andre can film from above and zoom out as Ethan stares at the sky in despair. Jade looks over the shots everyday, finding that they look pretty good for the scarce material they have. She only hopes that, after editing, the final product will be worth a thousand dollars.

The last day of filming at the roof, Beck doesn't talk to anyone. As everyone else prepares the set, he approaches Jade with a notepad. It reads:  _bully me._ Jade stares at it confused until it dawns on her. She pulls the boy aside, searching in the darkest corners of her brain for terrible things to say. And he takes it in stride. Jade just lays it on him: disappointment, anger, disgust, pity. All lies. But they seem to do the trick because, by the time everyone is ready to film, Beck's eyes are misty and his lips are pale of how tight he's been pressing them together.

They film it from the beginning. Beck slams the door open, approaches the edge of the roof in a few long strides. He looks murderous. His hand pulls at his hair as he looks over the edge, his breathing coming in hard pants. And then he lets out the most blood-curling scream Jade's ever heard. The city is silent and the sun is low in the horizon and by pure chance, his scream scares a small flock of birds that were stood in a nearby tree. The birds fly by the building and then away into the horizon. Jade gets goosebumps all over her arms; it looks absolutely gorgeous.

Beck walks back from the edge, holding his throat as tears of real pain gather in his eyes. He drops to his knees, then on his side and finally, turns up towards Andre's camera. Daniel's aunt waits a couple seconds to follow her cue, running to his side with worry written all over her face. She pulls out her phone with shaky fingers, dials, all the while muttering soothing words to Beck: "poor boy, poor thing, what happened to you?" Beck's eyes are vacant, his chapped lips opened slightly. Jade waits until she's sure Andre's filmed enough.

"And cut."

Everyone looks at her expectantly. She approaches Beck, kneels next to him.

"You okay?"  _Are we okay?_ She wants to ask.

Beck's eyes focus back on Jade. He sits up, rubs at the wetness in eyes with his sleeve. "Yeah." His voice is barely a whisper. Jade was right, he'll be hoarse for days.

"That was insane, Beck."

"Good?"

"Fuck, yes," she says impressed.

"Dude!" Tori runs up to them, Cat following closely behind with the boom mic. Their eyes are wide and full of admiration. " _Dude."_

"Did you guys see the birds?" Robbie asks, rewinding the shot to watch it again. "Was I tripping or did that happen? Holy chiz."

"You caught it, right?" Jade asks.

"Are you kidding me? I was about to pee my pants, I can't believe our timing was so perfect."

"Beck, man," Andre says as he climbs down the stairs, "your face just then was… somethin' else."

"Thanks," Beck husks.

"Oh, dear." Daniel's aunt looks at him worriedly. "I'm gonna make you a hot lemon-tea with honey."

Instead of answering, Beck puts his hands up together as if to say 'please'. Next to him, Tori grabs Jade's hand to call her attention.

"That was really good."

"Yeah, I think we might end up not using any of the shots from these past days." Jade looks up at the sun; it's starting to set. "Today it felt much more…"

"Real."

"Yeah."

Tori thinks for a moment. "Only one scene left, right?"

"Yep." Jade rubs her forehead. "I haven't asked him yet."

"Want me to come with you?"

"Yes," Jade answers without hesitation. Then, "please."

 

 

"Dad."

"Jade."

They stand there, looking at each other with no facial expression whatsoever and Tori observes it like it's a tennis match. God, not this again, she thinks.

"Tori!" She exclaims, holding her hand out towards Jade's dad. The man looks at it for a second, like handshakes are an alien thing to him. He's a businessman, so Tori doubts it. He finally takes it, shakes it one time, firm and mechanical, and drops it.

"I'm Jade's…" She glances at Jade, panicking for a moment, not sure what to introduce herself as. Jade gives her a look as if to say 'well? Go ahead', so she takes it as a green light. "Girlfriend."

The man doesn't react and Tori starts getting nervous. So she babbles, because that's what she does when she's stressed. "We're dating. 'Cause that's what girlfriends do- well not- not the casual term 'girlfriend' like: hey gurlfran, whacha up to? But the romantic term. Girlfriend as in we go out and do couple-y stuff together. Well we don't always go out, sometimes we stay in." She glances back and forth between them. "Basically Jade's my girlfriend and I'm her girlfriend, 'cause that's how it works when it's… two… uhm… girls."

She falls silent. Jade's dad still hasn't moved a muscle and Tori can feel a drop of sweat tickling the back of her neck.

After three endless seconds, the man finally reacts, his eyes moving from Tori to Jade. "She talks a lot," he says simply.

"She does," Jade agrees, her voice devoid of all emotion.

"So, to what do I owe the privilege of your visit?" The sarcasm in his voice is subtle but Tori notices it; she's become somewhat of an expert in deciphering the West speech. And it's no wonder that he's a bit reluctant to just let them into his house, because Tori knows for a fact that he's been trying to contact Jade for weeks and she hasn't responded to any of his messages.

Jade sighs, like she's already regretting coming here. "I have a favor to ask you."

He scoffs a laugh, although his face remains impassive. Tori's sure this man is some kind of android.

"A favor," he repeats. In a miraculous display of humanity, he crosses his arms over his chest. Tori notices he's in dress pants and a shirt, but the top buttons are open and he doesn't have any shoes on. It seems like he was just getting comfortable when they knocked on his door. "I have called your phone every day for the past week; sent your mother at least fifty emails because you stopped checking yours. You have not responded to any of them- completely ignored me. And now you have a favor to ask me."

"You know what? You're right," Jade states, voice impassive and calm. "I shouldn't have come." She turns to leave and Tori gapes at her.

"What, no- wait!" Tori grabs her hand to stop her. "Jade, wait." Tori licks her lip, not sure what to do now. "Mr. West, with all due respect, I know you and your daughter have… issues to resolve, but I'm sure turning your back on her when she needs you is not the way to do it."

Mr. West's arms fall down at his sides.

"And Jade," Tori continues. She thinks for a moment what to tell her. "Just- don't be a gank."

Jade spins on her heels, eyes squinting at her. Tori smiles apologetically.

"Right," Mr. West says. "Come in, then."

Tori sits on the couch and listens as Jade explains the reason of their visit. Mr. West doesn't give any signs of liking or disliking the idea. He just sits there, eyes intently focused on his daughter as she talks. Tori's almost sure none of them have blinked since they sat.

"You want to destroy my apartment," the man checks when Jade is done talking.

"Yes."

"No," Tori interjects. "Well, not exactly. It'll be just like you left it by the time you come back."

"And this is all for one of those…  _movies_  of yours," he says the word like it tastes weird in his mouth.

"Short film," Jade corrects. "But yes."

He sighs through his nose, crosses his fingers together. "I don't understand why you don't find yourself a more normal hobby."

Jade's jaw clenches, her teeth grinding together. "It's not a  _hobby_ , Dad," she bites out. Tori puts a hand on her knee and rubs it in a calming manner. Jade closes her eyes for a second and when she opens them, her mask is once again in place. "Will you let us shoot here or not?"

The man doesn't look convinced.

"We- we want to present it to a contest," Tori adds. "The prize is a thousand dollars."

His eyebrow arches in surprise and the gesture looks exactly like when Jade does it.

"Well." He clasps his hands together. "At least you'll be getting something out of it."

Tori doesn't like the disdain in which he talks about their line of work, about the world that she and Jade love so much. But she's not about to comment on it when he's just about to do them a favor.

"That is if you win," he adds as an afterthought.

"Yes, we realize that," Jade says between clenched teeth.

"Fine. You can shoot here."

Jade stands suddenly, more than ready to go. "Great. Thank you."

"You're leaving," he states.

"We have homework."

"They give you homework at that school?" He seems actually surprised.

Jade rubs the bridge of her nose as she reaches for the door. "It's what they do at schools." But she doesn't leave just yet, stands at the threshold with Tori besides her.

"Well, I hope you'll pick up the phone the next time I call."

"If I'm not busy."

"Very well. Bye, Jade."

"Bye, Dad."

"Bye, Mr. West."

"Bye…" he seems to be trying to remember her name and come up empty, so he just turns around and disappears down the hallway. Jade can't help but shut the door a little bit too hard behind her.

The ride on the elevator is silent and so is the drive back to Jade's place, where Tori left her things after school. Jade doesn't say a word as they enter her room, nor does she while Tori gathers her things. And then all of a sudden, she's pouncing on Tori, pressing her against the wall and kissing her with all of her pent up frustration.

Tori lets her bag fall to the floor and tries to catch up with Jade's fervent kisses. Jade bites hard at her bottom lip, sucks harder. Her hands travel all over Tori's front, cupping her breasts through her t-shirt before dropping to her stomach and the button of her jeans. "Can I?" She rasps. Tori nods frantically, her arousal levels already skyrocketing. Jade snaps Tori's jeans without much preamble and pushes her hand down her front, rubbing Tori's center and making the girl pant desperately. Jade's mouth is attached to her neck when her fingers sink into Tori and the girl yelps, clutches at the back of Jade's jacket. Her surprise is followed by a long string of moans and whimpers as Jade basically fucks her into the wall. This is what she always imagined having sex with Jade West would be like; raw and hard and animalistic. Her orgasm hits her without warming and Jade comes up to kiss her, sucking Tori's tongue into her mouth. Her wrist doesn't stop moving and the heel of her hand rubs against her clit at every pump. Tori's coming a second time within a minute.

"Jade," she breathes out. "Jade, stop. I can't anymore."

Jade seems to come to her senses, her hand stilling. She pulls it out of Tori's pants and wraps it around her waist, her forehead dropping to Tori's shoulder. They stay like that for a bit and Tori appreciates the chance to get her heart rate back to normal.

"I'm sorry." Jade swallows hard. "I went a little crazy on you there."

"It's okay."

"He just pisses me off so much," Jade confesses. "It was either this or punching a wall."

"I'd rather you do this." Tori knows it's a little fucked up, but that's Jade sometimes. A little fucked up. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"God, no." Jade cups her face with both hands and stares hard at her. "Thank you, for being there with me."

"Of course."

Jade kisses her gently, her thumbs rubbing her cheekbones softly. When she pulls back, she looks like she wants to say something and Tori can tell it's something important, something big. But then she kisses her again, a little harder, and Tori forgets about it.


	6. Chapter 6

6.

 

"Can we do this quick?" Jade's mood has been turning sour as the day advanced. The gang tries not to hold it against her, because they have figured out Jade's relationship with her dad is rocky at best. But everyone's suffered Jade's short-temperament today and Tori can feel the tension in the air. "I don't want to be here any more than strictly necessary."

"You think this couch is easy to move?" Andre snaps, a drop of sweat trailing down his temple. He looks at Beck, holding the other side of the couch with difficulty and mutters to him: "I'd like to see her try."

"What did you say?" Jade's tone turns icy and dangerous. Andre's throat bobs nervously.

"Nuthin'."

"That's what I thought."

Jade glances at the clock for the twentieth time in less than an hour. A hand rests at the small of her back and she tenses.

"Cat wants to know if you want me in make-up or not." It's Tori. Jade tries to relax her muscles, but they refuse.

"Tell her minimal make-up. You're supposed to cry, I don't want it to look like a total mess." Jade rubs at her face. "And make it quick, will you?"

Tori drops the hand from her back. "Right."

Jade realizes she's being a jerk but her talk with her Dad the other day and being in his space now, is making her irascible and affecting her work. And this is the reason she doesn't want to answer his phone calls or meet with him, because he only has discouraging words and disappointed looks for her. Because when her Dad looks at her, he sees a stranger. And when she looks at him, she sees the image of a man she once admired and who turned out to be nothing like she thought. The Hollywood world is hard enough without someone trying to pull the streaks out of your hair, push you into a dress shirt and send you on your way to some boring law school.

They barely have time to shoot the initial one-sided argument between Ethan and Lauren and the fantasy sequence with Ethan pulling his heart out, before Jade is asking them to clean it all up and put everything back in place. She's so paranoid his Dad will show up and judge every little thing about their project, it won't let her think straight.

"We'll come sooner tomorrow. Hopefully we can shoot the scene with Ethan thrashing the place and get the hell out of here."  _Forever,_  she thinks. If she never sets foot in his Dad's suffocatingly bland and sterile place, it'll be too soon.

True to her word, they show up at the apartment an hour earlier. Thanks to yesterday's experience, she knows where she wants everything and it takes them less time to prepare the set. Tori and Beck slip back into the character's clothes while Robbie and Andre fix the lights. They start right at the end of the argument. The first take is crap, so she cuts it short. The second is better. By the third, Beck and Tori know their cues so well, that it looks almost natural. And then it's time for Beck to trash the place.

Jade figures someone up above doesn't like her very much, and it's only to be expected; all that negativity in her live was going to catch up with her at some point. Karma, indeed, is a bitch.

"Jade."

" _Dad_?"

"Mr. West!" Tori looks between Jade's ashen face and Mr. West critical stare. Still with one hand at the door handle, he takes in the new disposition of his apartment. "We thought you wouldn't be here for at least two more hours."

"I left early." If it's because he just felt like it or because he wanted to see this 'movie' thing, he doesn't say. Mr. West puts his briefcase on the floor, away from the cameras and takes his jacket off, hanging it on a nearby chair. Then, he crosses his arms and waits, apparently for them to start doing whatever it is they do in his home.

"Excuse me," Jade says, disappearing into the bathroom. Tori follows her a second later.

"Jade-"

Her hands are clutching the edge of the sink, her knuckles white. "We'll put everything back in place and shoot the rest tomorrow."

"We need to start editing tomorrow," Tori reasons gently. She doesn't want Jade to snap at her. "The deadline to present the short is in three days."

Jade shuts her eyes tight. "Fuck."

"Hey, it's fine. We can shoot with him here. He might even like it," Tori comments optimistically.

"Yeah, doubtful." Jade shakes her head, lets out a sigh. "Come on, let's get this done already."

At first it's strange and everybody's performance suffers from having Mr. West just standing there, judging their every move. When it's time for Beck to kick his chair over, he seems unsure and Jade has to yell cut.

"Beck, you're out of your mind with anger, okay? It consumes you. You can't hesitate, we've talked about this." Beck just nods, still unable to talk much. "Okay, take positions. Let's do it from 'Ethan stands and kicks his chair over'. Ready-"

"Hold on," Robbie says, looking at his camera with a frown.

"God, what now?" Jade asks exasperated.

"It's nothing, I just need to change the memory card. This one's full."

"Fine. But do it quick."

"Uhm," Robbie mumbles, scared that Jade would bite his head off. "The spare one is in Beck's van."

Jade growls. "Then what are you still doing here?" Robbie's out of the apartment in less than a heartbeat. "Let's take five."

Jade disappears into the kitchen before anyone has time to talk to her. She pulls the fridge door open forcefully and stares at its methodically organized contents. With a scoff, she picks a water bottle and takes a few sips. Sometimes she thinks her Dad could be serial killer material but then she remembers he doesn't have enough imagination. She walks back into the living room but stops right at the door, confused by the sight that greets her.

Beck is practicing the scene, going through the motions and Cat is reapplying Tori's make-up. And behind the couch, with their backs towards her, her Dad appears to be talking to Andre. Her name being said calls her attention and she tilts her head in their direction.

"…very talented. I mean, we're all a bit scared of her but we're still here because we believe we can win. She writes good chiz."

"But, I don't understand," her Dad is saying. "You, for example. Is this all you do?"

"Nah, I'm more of a musician. I've actually composed the soundtrack for the short. I also sing, play piano, the guitar, uh, the french horn-"

"But how is that going to pay your bills?" Mr. West doesn't seem to be trying to be hurtful, he's just being blunt. "Do you plan on playing at subway stations?"

"Uh…"

He doesn't wait for an answer. "I just don't know how much Jade's mother and I should indulge this- this  _thing_."

The door opens and Robbie comes in, panting hard and clutching at his chest. Everyone starts taking positions as he changes the memory card.

"She's an adult now. It might be time for her to leave behind this rebellious phase- these ridiculous pipe-dreams, and focus on a serious career path." He shakes his head, talking to himself at this point. "I just don't know where we went wrong with her."

The bottle in Jade's hand is about to explode, she's clutching it so tight. Her vision is clouding in anger, tears, murderous rage. She wants so bad to scream at him, make him feel just a fraction of the betrayal she's feeling. She wants to remind him he was the one that left, the one that has never tried to understand her, but mold her into something she's not. But most of all, she wants to run, get the hell out of this apartment.

"Jade?" It's Tori's voice that brings her back to reality. Everyone's already in position. Her Dad seems to be picking up his stuff and retiring to his bedroom, like he's seen enough. Like he knows all he needed to know.

Jade waits for him to close the door, then snaps into action.

"Let's fucking trash this place," she says, her voice calm like the eye of a storm. "Beck, if you need to break something, you fucking break it."

Beck seems to get pumped up by her words.

"Ready? Action!"

 

 

"How's the editing going?"

Jade drops her messenger bag on the ground, sits next to Tori at their table. She's got dark bags under her eyes, sign that she hasn't been sleeping much. But Tori wouldn't really know, Jade has been pretty much M.I.A. these past days.

"It's done." Jade drops her head on her arms on top of the table. "Remind me to thank Robbie for that."

"Uhm, I'm here," the boy says.

Jade doesn't lift her head, just points a finger in his general direction. "Thank you."

"Have you sent it already?" Tori asks.

"This morning."

"Wow, we really pushed that deadline, uh?" Tori asks jokingly. Jade doesn't answer. "So… how did it look?"

"I don't know, Vega." Jade sits up irritated. "I barely had time to watch it once. It looked like a bunch of scenes put together."

"Don't listen to her," Robbie interjects. "It looked great."

Tori nods, her fingers picking at the crust of her pizza slice that she doesn't want to eat anymore. She sits quietly, not really paying attention as Cat talks about her last date with Dylan. Next to her, Jade stares off into space, her chin resting on her hand and angled away from her. Tori looks for something to say – anything. She hates this weird tension between them.

"So, your dad called me."

Jade's head snaps towards her so fast she fears she might've pulled a muscle. " _What?_ " Jade spits. And maybe this wasn't the best topic of conversation, but Tori had to tell her at some point.

"The night after we shot at his apartment, he called me."

"And you're just telling me this  _now_?"

Tori lets out a humorless laugh. "Well, Jade, it's not like you've been very accessible. In fact I think this is the first conversation we have in three days."

"I was  _working_. You're not the only thing going on in my life, you know?" Jade's voice keeps growing colder and the amicable chatter around the table trails off into murmurs until it stops. "How the fuck did he even get your number?"

"Your mom gave it to him. He said you weren't picking up again so he called me."

"And  _you_  picked up," Jade accuses.

"I didn't know it was him!"

Jade rubs at her temples, lips pursed. "What did he want?"

"He said after watching you that afternoon, he wanted to meet. Talk to you."

"Of course he did."

"He said he wanted to have dinner with you. With uh- with  _us_. So I said okay and-"

"You  _what_?!" Jade pierces her with cold, angry eyes. Tori feels like she's back at the first day of class and Jade's just about to dump a cold coffee over her head. Only this time, Jade doesn't just look pissed, she looks livid. "Why the fuck would you do that, Tori?!"

"What did you want me to say?!" Tori tries to defend herself. "He said he wanted to talk! He's your dad, maybe talking to him wouldn't be such a bad idea."

Jade shakes her head like she can't believe what she's hearing. In a heartbeat, she's up and stomping away from the table. Tori follows her a second later, leaving their friends behind shocked and speechless.

"Jade!" Tori calls. "Jade, wait!"

The girl stops in front of the lockers. Thankfully there's not a lot of students hanging around, but the few that see them immediately notice something's wrong.

"Who gave you the right? Uh?" Jade sneers. "Are you really that naive that you think you can go around fixing other people's problems?"

"Well, if  _they_  won't do anything to fix them," Tori taunts.

"Oh please, the fuck do you know about my problems?"

"I know your father had to call  _me_ because you're acting like a brat again." Tori pushes her fingers through her hair, licks her dry lips. "I think it's time you face whatever issues you have with him."

"Oh, my God," Jade laughs humorlessly. " _You_  think? Everything is about you, isn't it? Tori Vega, center of the universe. Every single thing revolves around her, even what doesn't concern her. Even the things she doesn't know shit about."

"You brought me into it! You asked me to come with you!"

"Jesus, you're so self-centered." Jade turns around, walks a couple steps and then turns back. "This had nothing to do with you, Vega. It was none of your fucking business and you had  _no_  right."

Jade's voice breaks at the end and she just looks so hurt; so betrayed. Tori's at a loss. "I just thought maybe if you gave him the chance. If you explained to him-"

Jade scoffs. "See, that's the thing, Tori. You don't get what it's like. Your parents have always been supportive of you, always told you: 'well done, Tori!' 'you're the best, Tori!', even when you were mediocre. You think we're complete opposites? You're right, and there's your proof. You. Don't. Fucking. Get it."

Any words Tori had, get stuck in the tightness of her throat.

"You can call him back, now that you're such good friends, and tell him I'm not having dinner with him," Jade says with finality. "I'm not gonna sit and listen to him spit on everything I believe in. Everything I  _am_."

Tori watches her leave, the entrance door slamming behind her. She leans against her locker, her eyes burning with the tears she's holding back. In the end, they win.

 

 

It's ten o'clock on a Friday night. Usually Tori would be hanging out with Jade at her house, or at the Karaoke Dokie with the gang. Maybe they'd even be at the Calliope bar hanging out with Beck and Adriana. Or maybe they'd be at the movies, making out at the back of the theatre while ignoring what goes on on the screen.

But no, Tori's not at any of these places. She doesn't know where Jade is either, hasn't heard from her since she disappeared this morning after their fight, skipping the rest of her classes. This Friday night, Tori sits on her couch, a blanket wrapped around her and a bowl of Cocoa Puffs resting on her lap. She has her favorite pajamas on, the ones with owls with moustaches, and her hair is up in a messy bun.

The lights are off and the TV is playing a documentary on the production of rice over the world. It's as interesting as it sounds. But at least it's keeping her mind off of other things. Her eyes are still red behind her glasses and she's done crying over Jade and their stupid fight.

Objectively, she knows it wasn't stupid. She realizes she crossed a line; that Jade is a very private person and she hates when people make decisions in her place. More importantly, Tori sees better than ever that she and Jade are nothing alike. She always thought it was the superficial things, being perky while Jade's grumpy and all that. But now it's like the truth has slapped her in the face.

Jade was right. She's always had the support of her parents, even Trina's sometimes. No one has ever dismissed her dreams, whatever they were. When she was 6 and wanted to be a pirate, her Dad had said: "argh, so you shall be!". When she was 10 and wanted to tame lions, her Mom had brought her to the zoo. And when she was 16 and realized her dream was to sing and act and be an artist, the whole school had tripped over themselves to help her.

But Jade had to fight for everything while one of her parents was completely unsupportive and the other mostly absent. Tori could never know what that's like. Maybe that's why she's an optimist where Jade is a pessimist. Maybe she's naive and Jade's just being realistic. Whatever it is, she shouldn't have pushed Jade to fix things with her dad. Because it's true, she doesn't get it.

God, she knew this would happen sooner or later. What's that thing her science teacher used to say? You can only put two reactant substances together for so long before there's some kind of reaction. She's been trying to make sense of the dynamic of their relationship for so long, it's starting to take really abstract forms in her mind. Is that what they really are? Not attracting magnets looking for equilibrium but a pair of chemicals, boiling under the surface until they explode, tainting everything around them. Are they a disaster waiting to happen?

She's brought out of her musings when the handle of her front door turns. Suddenly, she's very aware of two things: she's home alone and she forgot to lock the door. Tori clutches her spoon tightly, ready to use it as an improvised weapon against the intruder. But her fear turns into relief when she sees who it is. And then the relief turns into nerves that ball up in her throat.

Jade doesn't say anything as she steps into the living room. She crosses her arms, glancing at the TV where the documentary is still playing. Tori swallows hard, waits for her to say something. But Jade seems to be as lost as she is. She's wearing sweat pants and a worn t-shirt, like she was at home before driving here. Her eyes are tired and red-rimmed, vulnerable when they look at Tori.

Tori lifts one side of her blanket. Jade takes the peace offering and sits next to her. The hypnotizing voice of the narrator is talking about the rice crops in the east coast of Spain when Jade speaks:

"I'm sorry."

Tori wants to say she is too, but she can't find her voice.

"I was a gank," Jade continues. "I shouldn't have said those things to you."

"It's fine."

"No, it's not. I was tired and pissed and these past days have been shit." Jade shakes her head. "I might have overeacted."

"I was out of line," Tori reasons. "You were right. It was none of my business and I'm really sorry."

Jade rolls her eyes. "You did… what you thought was best. That's what you always do. Because you're a good person."

"But I-"

"I'm trying to apologize here, Vega," Jade says giving her a teasing look. "It's not a common occurrence so you should cherish it."

"Sorry, continue."

"I don't think you're self-centered."

Tori pulls a face. "I am, sometimes."

"Okay, I don't think you're  _always_  self-centered."

"I don't think you're a brat."

"Damn right, I'm not a brat," Jade replies immediately.

Tori chuckles. She should've seen that coming.

"But I  _am_  a little crazy sometimes. Short-tempered. Mean." Jade sighs. "I wasn't really mad at you– no, fuck that, I  _was_  mad. I felt betrayed, but only for a while. Mostly I was mad at him, because he's never tried to fucking understand… and then I overheard this conversation… anyway, I blew up on you. I'm sorry."

Blew up. Like an explosion. Tori doesn't miss the irony.

"I never meant to betray you. If I had known–" but then again, Tori did know. "I'm so sorry."

Jade shrugs. Her hand moves under the blanket until it finds Tori's clasped ones. "It's fine."

As Jade's fingers slip between hers, Tori finally feels like she can breathe again. The ball of nerves in her throat dissolves, her heart unclenches. "I didn't call him back though, just so you know. You might want to tell your mom to cancel the dinner."

Jade snorts a laugh. "Yeah, I'll do that."

They stay like that for a while, watching the documentary in silence. Tori's mind wanders, one hand holding Jade's while the other traces the bumps of her knuckles.

"Jade?"

The light of the TV illuminates Jade's profile as she turns towards her.

"What happened today… that might happen again, right?"

Jade frowns. "What do you mean?"

"I mean the fight. You blowing up at me. Me blowing up back at you."

"Oh, that  _will_  happen again," Jade says matter-of-factly.

Tori guesses that's fair. "Okay, but, what if it breaks us next time? What if the explosion is too big to put us back together?"

Jade seems totally confused. "What are you talking about?"

"I think… maybe we're not like magnets after all." Jade groans and Tori hurries to continue her line of thought. "I think we're like chemicals. We're like really volatile substances put together in one of those fancy glasses, you know? And at first nothing happens, or maybe it just changes colors and it's actually pretty cool and you think, hey, it worked. But then, the whole thing starts bubbling and spiraling out of control and before you know it, it blows up and everyone has to evacuate the lab because the fumes are toxic."

"Oh, my God." Jade throws her head back. "I can't believe you're back to that crap again."

"But you get it, right?"

"Get what?" Jade asks exasperated.

"The analogy!" Tori whines. "Why I'm worried that we might… not work, in the end."

"Well, that's stupid. And not gonna happen."

Tori scoffs. "Yeah? How do you know that?"

"Because I love you, you moron." Jade huffs, rolls her eyes. "God knows why, 'cause you're a total nerd, but I'm  _in_  love with you. So you can stop trying to figure out the science."

Big, shiny brown eyes stare up at Jade like they're seeing her for the first time. Whatever ridiculous argument Tori had, suddenly seems unimportant. It's been a long and emotionally draining day and Tori can't remember the last time she kissed Jade. So she does. Again and again and again.

She holds Jade's face against hers, their lips barely brushing together. "I love you, too."

"I know," Jade sighs. She didn't know, but she hoped. Jade grabs her hip, pulling her closer and her lips move against Tori's more firmly. It feels too good to touch Tori again, to hold her, to kiss her; everything else just fades away. Everything but: "Is anyone home?"

"Dad's working night shift and Mom and Trina are visiting my-"

"Yeah." Jade is already pulling her up from the couch and towards Tori's room, their mouths still trying to stay connected. "I don't care."


	7. Chapter 7

7.

 

"We have three nominations!" Almost two weeks later, Robbie bursts into Sikowitz's class waving a paper in the hand that's not holding Rex. The teacher stops what he was saying – nothing important, just some crazy story involving a llama and a whole lot of tequila shots during his visit to Machu Pichu – and turns his attention to the boy. "We have three- OOF!"

Robbie trips on the leg of a chair and falls face first into the floor. Jade stands immediately, crosses the classroom in two steps. "Give me that," she says, snatching the paper from him.

"Ow," he moans, his nose still touching the dirty floor.

Jade's eyes quickly scan over the printed email. Her heart hammers in her chest like a drum. Tori peeks over her shoulder, catching the words "best actor", "best short film" and "best director".

"Oh, my God!" Tori exclaims excited. "Jade, Jade!" She puts her arm over Jade's shoulder, reaching for the paper and tapping it repeatedly. "Jade look!"

Jade captures Tori's crazy hand, laughing as she says: "I see it, I see it."

Everyone joins Tori in her excitement. Cat hugs Andre, who's congratulating Beck on his nomination, who's already calling Adriana to tell her the good news. Sikowitz helps Robbie up, singing praises about his students and how he always knew they had it in them. And Tori, Tori throws her arms around Jade, laughing into her neck like a maniac.

"We did it," Tori says, leaning back to look at her.

"We haven't done it yet," Jade replies.

Tori shrugs. "I don't care. This feels pretty good."

"Mh," Jade agrees, "validation is delicious."

"You're delicious." In the middle of the classroom, with their friends celebrating and the rest of the class staring in admiration and some jealousy, Tori kisses her. And it's not a chaste kiss either; it's a full, open-mouthed, tongue teasing, I might do you right here if it weren't for the fact that we're in class-kind of kiss.

"Okay, okay!" Sikowitz scolds, pulling them apart by the shoulder. "Tori, you can kiss your girlfriend after the bell rings. I have a class to teach."

"Right," she says a little embarrassed. They take a seat at the back, her hand still holding Jade's as she plays with her fingers. God, she can't wait to get to Jade's later.

"Now, can we  _please_  get back to the matter at foot?" Sikowitz kicks his leg out, points at his bare foot. The class quiets down, turning their attention towards him. "Right, so, as I was saying, I had six shots of tequila in my system and the llama had stolen my pants…"

 

 

With the short finally filmed, their schedules go back to normal. Andre writes two new songs, Beck finally fixes his neighbor's car and Tori performs with Jun in front of Anthony. He gives them an A. Everyone in Hollywood Arts seems to have heard about their nominations and they become somewhat of a celebrity. Even Trina seems to be enjoying their little taste of fame: "Yes, that's my sister's movie that got nominated for three NOVA Awards. I taught her all she knows."

The day of the Festival sneaks up on them. Jade is getting ready at Tori's, reapplying lip-gloss and fluffing her hair. "Do you think this blazer says 'professional aspiring director' or 'coffee-making secretary'?"

Tori looks up from her purse. "First one, definitely."

"Are you sure? I don't want to look out of place."

It's strange and honestly, quite adorable to see Jade being so nervous. Tori comes up behind her, wraps her arms around her to pull the blazer closed. "You look hot." She drops her chin on Jade's shoulder. "You could be wearing a trash bag and still look hot."

"Wow," Jade teases. She turns around in Tori's arms and looks at her unimpressed. " _That's_  your line. Really."

Tori can't help but press a chaste peck on her lips.

"I  _know_  I look hot. I want to know if I look 'Short Film Festival' hot."

Another kiss. "You do. Stop worrying."

"I'm not worried."

"Uh, huh." Tori leans back in, kissing her slower this time. Jade tastes like bubblegum.

"Okay, Vega," Jade says, pulling back from the kiss. "Contain your horny self. Now I have to reapply my lip-gloss."

Tori lets her, licking the sticky substance from her lips. She pats down the front of her dark gray dress, something simple and elegant, tight and down to the middle of her thighs. She pulls Jade's leather jacket on, flips her hair out of the collar. A whiff of lilacs invades her senses. She resists the urge to bury her nose into the collar and sniff; Jade wouldn't let her live that down. There's a knock on her open door. Her mom stands at the threshold, glances at the two of them, then at her phone.

"Girls, we should get going. We can't be late for your big day."

"Just a minute." Tori picks up her purse and throws the rest of her things inside. "You ready?"

Jade gives herself one last look in the mirror. Takes a deep breath and nods. "Yeah, ready."

 

 

All their friends and family are already at the entrance when they arrive. Beck's parents, Andre's grandma, Robbie's Mamaw, even Cat's uncle and uncle from San Francisco have come down to visit. But Tori immediately notices there's no one there for Jade.

"Isn't your mom coming?" She asks quietly.

Jade sighs. "That's what she said."

"What about…"

"No." Jade replies with finality.

The day of their fight, tangled up in Tori's sheets long after they made-up – twice – Jade had told Tori everything that happened at her Dad's apartment, why she'd been so upset with him. It might've been because they'd overcome their first real fight or maybe because Jade had taken a risk confessing how she felt and it didn't come back to bite her in the ass; because Tori, sweet, beautiful, dorky Tori, returned her feelings. Whatever the reason, Jade opened up to her like she'd never done with anyone before. She talked about her Dad, about her Mom, about the divorce, about being a bitch just so everyone could feel an ounce of the anger she felt everyday. She also talked about how their group of misfits had helped her learn to enjoy things, to not hate everything so much, and about how Tori, surprisingly (or unsurprisingly, if you looked at their track record) was the one that had unconciously helped her get in touch with her emotions.

Tori had felt terrible; knowing what she now knew, what Mr. West had said, made her blood boil. How could that man not see what an amazing person her daughter was? And even if they didn't get along, even if he was a cold-hearted machine that couldn't show affection, he had to see that Jade was incredibly talented. That she had a bright future ahead of her. That she was, simply put, exceptional. And that's what she had told her that night, whispered it with her lips tickling the shell of her ear, murmured it against her cheek like she wanted the words to permeate her skin and stay with her forever. And on the inside, Jade kept healing, because that's what Tori did to her.

Tori intertwines her fingers through Jade's and the girl's eyes snap to hers. "One day he'll regret missing his daughter's first award," Tori says. "He'll have to watch it on YouTube while you're off filming movies in Europe."

Jade forces a smile, "yeah, maybe."

Tori pulls at her hand until Jade steps closer to her. She tries to catch her eyes. "Have I told you lately how amazing you are?" she whispers, her forehead coming to rest against Jade's.

Jade smirks a little. "You might've mentioned it."

"Damn, I should stop then. Wouldn't want it to get to your head." Tori gives her a small peck to let her know she's joking.

Jade shakes her head, like she can't quite believe this girl. But the truth is, she appreciates it so much. She never opened up like that to anyone, not even Beck, and she was so sure she would regret it if she ever did. But Tori hasn't been any different with her, she hasn't treated her like she's weak or like she pities her for having such a fucked up fatherly figure. Tori's been just Tori; supportive, bad-joke telling, fiercely protective Tori. And it made Jade fall in love with her all over again.

"Let's just go in, Vega," Jade says, pulling her towards the entrance doors.

The place looks like an auditorium turned into a movie theatre. There are posters and signs all over the place, announcing the festival and the shorts that will be playing. Tori squeaks in excitement when she sees the name of their short listed with the rest. She takes a picture and uploads it to her Slap page with the caption: 'It's happening!'

The usher shows them to their seats, the ones reserved for contestants, while their friends and family find other seats at the back. Jade glances at her phone for the hundredth time; still no sign of her mom.

Tori puts a hand on her knee, squeezes gently. "There's still time."

The place starts filling up fast. At the first rows, everyone looks around critically, sizing up the competition. Tori reads the pamphlet with the list of shorts, but the titles don't really tell her anything. She knows they did a good job, but being here now, surrounded by all these people who're probably just as talented as they are, if not more, she suddenly feels panicky and insecure. What if it's terrible? What if everyone laughs at them?

Thankfully, her internal debate is cut short by a familiar voice calling Jade's name.

"Mom?" Jade stands immediately, relief flooding her body. And then she squints. "Elliot?"

"Hi, Jade!" The boy waves at her, looking dapper in a shirt and a bowtie.

"Wha- what're you doing here?" Jade walks towards her family and the boy engulfs her in a hug. Jade taps his head awkwardly. "Did you finally scape that prison?"

"I wanted to see your movie." The kid pulls back from his sister and scans the crowd with wide eyes. "Have you met any famous person yet?"

"Uh, no," Jade answers distracted. She's still trying to absorb the fact that her mom kept her promise and now there's the little squirt to think about. Jade can't remember the last time she saw him.

"I'm sorry we're late, honey. I had to go pick him up." Valerie puts a hand on her cheek, looks at her with an adoring grin. "I'm so proud of you."

Jade feels her eyes prickle and her cheeks burn, so she looks away. "Yeah, uhm. Thanks." She's happy. God, she's so glad her Mom is here, that she came to see what they worked so hard for. But she's never been good with expressing her feelings and opening up to people. Well, apart from Tori, who's lately proved to be the exception to almost every rule Jade ever had about herself. "Hey kid, wanna meet someone?" She asks her brother.

He looks doubtful, knowing all too well of his sister's knack for pulling pranks on him. "Who?"

"Come on, you'll see." Jade pushes him towards their seats, but not before glancing back at her mom. "I'll see you after the ceremony, Mom. Thanks for coming."

Her mom crosses her fingers and waves them at her with a smile.

Tori sees Jade approach with a kid and she recognizes him immediately. She stands with a start, hands winding through her hair and down the front of her dress. Elliot looks up at her with suspicion.

"Elliot, this is Tori," Jade says. "She's my girlfriend."

"Hey, hi." Tori holds her hand out to him. Elliot takes it, still looking at her like with critical eyes.

"Girlfriend?" He asks.

"Yeah," Tori explains. "Your sister and I are dating."

He pulls a face. "You mean you kiss and stuff?"

Tori gapes at him. "Well, we do other things too. We- uhm, we go to the same school. And we… we worked in the short film together."

He perks up at that. "Oh, cool. Are you in it?"

"She's one of the main characters," Jade interjects.

"Awesome." He turns to look at Jade. "Hey, do you think they sell snacks in this place?"

"Uh," Jade shakes her head. "I doubt it."

Elliot grumbles, his lips pursing just like Jade's do when she's annoyed.

"Oh, hey." Tori picks up her purse and pokes through it. "I swear I put it- ah, here." Triumphantly, she hands Elliot a Snickers bar, something she had thrown in her there at the last moment, in case she got hungry.

The kid shakes his head. "I'm allergic to peanuts." Tori's face falls and he seems to notice. "Thank you anyway, Tori." He pulls at the collar of his shirt. "I'm gonna go find Mom."

"Yeah, okay." Jade walks him to the end of the row. "I'll see you later, squirt."

He waves back at her.

"He's so cute," Tori gushes when Jade comes back. "Do you think he likes me?"

Jade scoffs a laugh, rolling her eyes at her girlfriend. "He likes everyone."

"Uh," Tori grunts. "He definitely didn't get that from you."

Jade doesn't comment on that.

Not five minutes later, the lights of the auditorium dim, followed by a series of murmurs and shushing sounds. A young man walks into the stage and introduces the ceremony, talking about NOVAFest, the motivation and the people behind it. She talks briefly about the Jury, the Award Categories and then introduces the first short film. Tori checks the pamphlet; still five shorts to go. She can't wait.

And when the moment comes, she's shaking like a leaf.

"Next we have another of the nominations for this year's NOVA Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film." Tori clutches Jade's hand tightly. "The short titled "Lips Sealed" written and directed by Jade West, has also been nominated for a Best Director Award and a Best Actor Award for Beck Oliver's role as Ethan. Let's watch it."

As the opening scene plays on the big screen, Tori swears she can feel the whole row hold their breath. Her eyes don't blink in the next seventeen and a half minutes. She's introduced to Ethan first, watches his therapist – one of Sikowitz's actor friends – record himself as he explains the situation of little Ethan, the kid that went mute after a terrible tragedy. Andre and Robbie did an amazing job with the cameras, following Ethan around, the image clear but shaky, as if you're walking right behind him. Like a kaleidoscope of dark and violent colors, fragments of his life are revealed on the screen, sometimes confusing what is real and what is part of Ethan's fantasies.

Around six minutes in, Ethan meets Lauren for the first time, and it's  _Tori and Beck_ , but to her, it feels like she's seeing strangers. The music Andre composed flows in and out of the whole short, setting a sad and sometimes tense mood. When the argument scene comes, Tori covers her face, unable to watch herself break down in such an intimate manner. Ethan tears his heart out of his chest in his fantasy and it's gory and strange and just that touch of Jade's unique style. She has to applaud Robbie and Sinjin's work with the after effects, because it looks real enough that she can feel the discomfort and morbid curiosity of the audience around her. After that, images of Ethan trashing Mr. West's apartment flash on the screen and then Lauren leaves, the sound of the door shutting echoing like a thunder.

Tori had no idea what the scream scene ended up looking like, but what she sees exceeds all her expectations. The real pain of Beck's scream shakes the walls of the auditorium and she even hears some small gasps from the audience. And then the flock of birds comes into view.

"Oh, my God," Tori whispers, her hand coming up to cover her mouth.

The last image shows Ethan's vacant face, his broken spirit, and it zooms out and out, until most of the screen is gray cement. The screen fades to black and the ending credits start rolling. There's a roaring applause, Tori clapping harder than anyone else.

"I don't even care if we win or not," Tori comments loudly, for the whole row to hear. "That was amazing."

There's excited chatter among their friends until the host starts presenting the next short film. Tori tries to pay attention to their competition, but her mind's already wandering, impatient for the winners to be announced. When the last short finally ends, she can barely stay still in her seat.

"Would you calm down?" Jade mutters between clenched teeth. "You're making me nervous."

"Sorry, I'm just-" Suddenly Tori gets an idea. "What are you gonna say if we win? Oh, my God, do  _I_  have to say something?"

"We're not gonna win."

"What?!" Tori asks a little too loudly. Jade shoots her a warning look. "Why would you say that?"

"Tori, have you been watching the other nominees?" Tori doesn't answer because she hasn't really been paying that much attention to anything but their short. "I mean, we're good. But they are better."

"Jade-"

"It's fine," Jade says sincerely. "Three nominations is a pretty big deal."

Tori soon realizes that Jade knows what she's talking about. The first of their nominations, the Best Actor Award, goes to a young boy, not a lot older than Jade's brother. Tori recalls that he played a kid from a bad neighborhood that was being used to traffic drugs inside of a worn Dora the Explorer backpack. Okay, she can admit that he did a pretty good job, considering his age. She glances at Beck, flashing him a sympathetic smile. He just shrugs like its no big deal.

The next Award they're nominated for is for the Best Director. Tori prays to whoever is listening that they call out Jade's name. But they don't. The Award goes to a tall, lanky boy with glasses. Tori doesn't even remember his short. Jade claps unenthusiastically.

"You should've won that," Tori tells her. Jade just shrugs a shoulder.

The moment finally comes for the Grand Jury Prize to be announced. Tori holds her breath as the host opens the envelope. Come on, one thousand dollars, Tori thinks. She can already taste them.

" _Of Dust and Rubble_ , by Amadi Williams!"

She drops back against the cushion of the seat, her whole body deflating. The same kid that won the Best Actor Award approaches the stage with a group of older people. They take the award and do a little speech that Tori ignores completely.

"Well," Tori grumbles. "This is bullshit."

Jade looks at her amused. "Who's being a brat now?"

"I don't know how you're so calm about this." It's true, Tori would've expected Jade to be raging about it, maybe pull her scissors out on someone. "You should be pissed."

"Oh, I'm pissed," she says. "I'm pissed that we weren't good enough. That I didn't do better."

Jade blames herself; of course she does. Tori's not surprised to realize that; after all, her Dad has always discouraged her, told her that what she aspired to be was not real. He's taught Jade to take failure as a sign of not being good enough, a sign of weakness. And now she's being robbed of that recognition she so craves, the recognition she  _deserves._  Tori's about to argue, to tell her that it's absolutely not her fault, that what they did was beautiful and it was all thanks to her, but the cracking of a microphone interrupts her.

"And now, we have a last Award tonight," the host says. "The Special Jury Prize is given by the Jury at their discretion to a short film that deserves special recognition for their unique vision or excellence. This year, the Jury has come to the unanimous decision that one of the shorts deserved this extraordinary award. And this short is…"

The host takes the envelope and opens it slowly.

"Wait, who's nominated?" Tori asks confused.

Jade's eyes are fixated on the stage when she replies: "everyone."

" _Lips Sealed_  by Jade West!"

Jade lets out a breathy laugh, shock and relief written all over her face. Tori grabs her arm so tight she almost cuts off her blood flow. "Jade! Oh, my God!"

Everyone's standing, following Jade up into the stage. Tori looks into the crowd, her Mom and Dad are on their feet clapping and Trina seems to be annoying the man in the seat in front of her, telling him something that looks suspiciously like "that's my sister!" and then pointing at her. Two rows up, Jade's mom and brother are doing the same as her parents. Tori waves at them as they stop next to the host.

Jade takes the statuette, what seems to be a metallic abstract dove. The host gestures towards the microphone and Jade hesitates. But the rest of the gang looks like a bunch of nervous, newborn deer caught in headlights– and thank God Robbie left Rex in the audience or they would look like total weirdos– and she doubts they will be able to form any coherent sentence at the moment.

"Right," she stammers into the mic. "Well, I guess I should say thanks to these crazy people standing behind me." The audience laughs. "I was a bit of a- uh-  _witch_  to them during the filming and they didn't kill me so," she raises the statuette in their honor. "Obviously, thanks to the Jury for recognizing our amazing talent," the audience laughs again. "I'm just kidding. Thanks to my mom and my brother and all our friends and family for being here tonight, we  _really_  appreciate it. And, uhm," she glances back at Tori, who has all her attention on her, "thanks to my girlfriend for being the only thing keeping me sane this last month."

The lights of the stage are bright and hot, but everything pales in comparison to the blinding smile that grows on Tori's face at those words.

"And last, but not least, I just want to send a message to those people that try to put us down, try to tell us that what we do doesn't matter, that we are wasting our time." Jade pauses dramatically, the audience sits at the edge of their seats.

A huge weight drops from her shoulders when she finally says: "Screw you."

 

 

"Oh, my Gaaaaaah!" Cat screeches as they step into the street half an hour later. The sun's already set and the street is buzzing with people leaving the auditorium. After being properly congratulated and hugged by every member of their families, the group of friends plus Adriana decided to go get some fast food to celebrate.

"Hey, Cat. How come you didn't invite Dylan?" Robbie asks, like he's just noticed. Cat starts spinning in circles and then grabs his hand to dance with him.

"We broke up," she says like it's no big deal.

"Why?"

Cat shrugs. "He was cute, you know. But a bit too…" she taps her temple softly " _slow_ , if you know what I mean. He couldn't keep up with me."

Robbie snorts a laugh. Then spins her around again.

"Okay, lemme see that." Andre takes the Award from Jade's hand – not easily, she clutches it like it's her lifeline – and raises it up to the light of a streetlight. "What is this supposed to be?"

"I think it's a dove," Adriana comments with a surprised tone.

"Yep, that's the logo of the NOVAFest," Beck confirms.

Andre continues to inspect it as they walk down the street. "Yeah, I don't see it."

Beck sighs. "Look, there's the beak…"

Tori tunes them out. She and Jade fall behind a few steps, walking hand in hand as the excitement of the night settles into a nice feeling of content. This moment, right here, right now, she thinks is worth all the hard work, all the heartache, all the fights of the last few weeks. She finally gets it, when Jade says she's not worried about them, about their future together. Because in a sea of uncertainty and doubt, Tori's the rock that Jade holds onto not to drown. Tori's what keeps her sane, what keeps her in line. And  _that_  is the truth; no magnets or chemical reactions. Just two people holding onto each other, being each other's safe place. They might be opposites, but they're also complementary.

Soulmates.

"Jade?"

Jade's staring at the night sky. It's impossible to see the stars, but there're a couple of blinking red and green lights moving in a straight line. An airplane. Coming or going, Tori doesn't know. "Mh?" Jade hums.

"I really love you, you know?"

Jade doesn't look away from the sky. "You've mentioned that."

Tori knocks her shoulder against Jade's. "And I know you really love me, too," Tori says, eyes squinted in challenge.

"You are correct." She finally looks at Tori, her sharp blue eyes soft and affectionate.

"Good," Tori decides. "'Cause it would be really awkward otherwise."

" _So_  awkward," Jade agrees.

"And boring!"

" _So_  boring."

"Like, think about all the fun we would  _not_  have!"

Jade hums. "Terrible."

Tori chuckles giddily, wrapping her whole arm around Jade's. "Thankfully, you couldn't resist my adorableness and my charming personality."

"Uhm, wrong," Jade interjects. " _You_ couldn't resist my hotness and my charming personality."

Tori snorts a laugh, pulling away from Jade but keeping their hands attached. "Charming? You?"

"Excuse you, Vega." Jade pulls on Tori's hand, making her stumble into her arms. They stop in the middle of the sidewalk, Jade's arms wrapping around Tori's waist. "I'll have you know that I have my very own and unique brand of charm."

Tori throws her arms around Jade's neck. "Oh, yeah?" Her nose bumps against Jade's teasingly.

Jade nods. "Yeah," she says cockily before kissing Tori, slowly, tenderly but with barely contained passion sizzling underneath the surface. It flows through Tori's veins like lava, settles in the pit of her stomach and makes her toes curl. The kiss doesn't last more than a few seconds but to Tori, everything else fades away to the background.

"Hey, you two lovebirds!" Andre's voice calls at them. "We gonna get tacos! You coming or what?"

Jade pulls her delicious lips away from Tori and she stares at them hungrily.

"You hungry?"

Tori nods. "Yeah," she rasps out, obviously referring to something different.

And Jade seems to get it, because she smirks knowingly. But then she's pulling her towards the rest of the group and saying: "Let's go get tacos, then."

Part of Tori wants to just say: 'screw tacos!' and have Jade drive her home so she can show her just how hungry she is. But she considers it for a moment, finally giving up and letting herself be dragged to the Mexican restaurant.

But only because Tori really likes tacos.

 

_Fin._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was fun, let's do it again sometime! (A one-shot, maybe? We'll see). Thank you for reading!


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